The Second HalfDemon
by MoonFace01
Summary: Kagome makes a new friend at school and brings her home to discuss a class project, while Inuyasha is visiting the shrine. After the silver haired girl meets Inuyasha, they discover something very interesting about the new girl at school. Crossover with
1. Chapter 1

(Hey people, this is my first submitted fic, so go easy on me, ok? And by the way, Inuyasha and all respected characters don't belong to me, and neither does anyone from Sailor Moon...and with that, please enjoy!)

Ch 1

Inuyasha paced the shrine grounds. "Where is that wench?"

Kagome was two days late. TWO DAYS! She promised to come back to the Feudal Era in a week, and here it was, nine days later, and she still wasn't back!

He began to pace faster as his anger grew. 'She always does this! She always stays for too long and then I have to come back to this stinkhole and get her! Why I put up with her I don't know!' He was snapped out of his rant by a broom getting pushed into his face.

"Inuyasha! You could at least be doing something productive like sweeping instead of pacing!" Kagome's mother pushed the broom a little further to the half inu-youkai and waited for him to take it. "Just wait until she comes back from school; she'll only be out another ten minutes or so."

"Keh," muttered the half-demon as he snatched the broom from her outstretched hand. He pulled his haori sleeves up and began sweeping.

"Oh, by the way," said Kagome's mother. "Here, so no one sees your ears." She tied a purple bandana over the white appendages.

'I hate this,' thought Inuyasha as he tried to move his ears. 'It's not as bad as the cap though.' He shrugged his shoulders and went back to sweeping.

True to her mother's words, Kagome did come home around ten minutes later, but she was not alone.

Two girls began the long trek up the shrine stairs. "So, we'll meet at my house for the project today and tomorrow, right?" The raven-haired girl looked at the new student. She had silver hair and bright blue eyes that were shining with happiness.

"Yeah, and then we'll meet at my house on Thursday and Friday."

"Well, we're almost there," Kagome huffed as the girls mounted the last set of stairs. "One good thing about living at a shrine: you become an expert at climbing stairs," said Kagome as she jumped the remaining two steps.

Serena nodded and followed suit. "Whew, if I were you Kagome, I would get an elevator installed or something," she said jokingly as her heart rate tried to even itself out and her breathing returned to normal.

"Fantastic idea, but I don't think Grandpa would like having an elevator on the shrine grounds." Kagome swiped her hair out of her eyes as she laughed and looked over to Serena who now had her breath back. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my…" Kagome trailed off as she spotted a certain half demon running around like a chicken with its head cut off, dragging a broom. Before he began running, she could swear he could have been sweeping. The first thought that came to her mind was 'That's weird,' and the second was, 'Holy cow, not good, I need to get him outta there before she-'

"So Kagome, who's that?" Serena was looking at the silver-haired boy. 'His hair is the same color as mine…I wonder if he colors it?' She began walking over to him, shaking her head of her stupid question.

Inuyasha looked up from his sweeping. He smelled not only Kagome's scent but someone else's as well. 'I hope it's not her crazy friends she's always telling me about…they sound weird.' He lifted his nose in the air and took a deep breath. 'The new girl smells like roses…and something else,' he deduced after a minute of thinking. 'Anyone who smells that good has to be nice.' He flushed at his thoughts and then heard them talking. 'Introduce the family huh? That just might scare the new girl away. Especially if I'm…if I'M here! Need to hide, need to hide…' His eyes darted for a good hiding place. 'Behind the tree?' He began heading to the tree, but he stopped. 'No, she'll spot me running to it; it's too far away.' Turning to the house, he shook his head. 'The house? No, she's probably heading to the house. How about-'

Too late.

He heard the girl ask Kagome who he was. He then heard Kagome clear her throat.

"Well, he's my cousin from…Australia, yeah." She nodded her head trying to convince the other girl of his origins.

Serena looked at Kagome. 'She sounds like she's lying, but I'll let it slip for now.' Her feet took her over to the young man who had resumed his sweeping. She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. When he turned, her breath was taken away.

Gold eyes stared back at her blue ones and silver hair fell over his face, contrasting with the amber-like color of his eyes. 'Are those real?' she wondered.

Inuyasha felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to come face to face with an ice angel. 'Or at least she looks like one.' Her silver hair, pale skin, and blue eyes matched perfectly to make her look like a fairy. He shook his head and extended a hand. "My name's Inuyasha. What's yours?" The half youkai had managed to learn some manners from Kagome. 'Amazingly. I guess traveling with her for two years has helped me with that.'

The girl blinked. His voice, 'Wow.' "Uh." She stammered a bit before remembering her name. "My name's Serena Tsukino, nice to meet you, Inuyasha." A soft hand met his in a firm hand shake.

"Serena, huh," whispered Inuyasha. 'What a perfect name, so beautiful.'

Kagome watched as the two seemed to disappear in their own little world. 'How cute!' Her head shook as Inuyasha seemed to change into an entirely different person. 'Ugh, sure, be nice to a stranger but not your best friend,' thought the girl. She had only friendly feelings to the dog demon, and besides, if they did get together, Kagome would always wonder if it was her or Kikyo he saw. Which brought her to another thought: 'He'd better not hurt her.' But then again, who's to say the two would ever meet again?

Kagome was pulled from her musings as Serena poked her on her arm. "So, are we gonna work on the project or what, Kagome? Remember the project, right?" Serena waved her hand in front of the grey-blue-eyed girl.

"Oh yeah, so, let's go," she pulled Serena's arm and the two disappeared into the house.

"So Kagome…" Serena had been lead up another flight of stairs and was now in her new friend's room. She trailed off and looked at her. "Inuyasha, what's he like? He seems nice and gentle, and since you're his cousin, I figure you know a lot about him." She was seated on Kagome's bed while Kagome was sitting at her desk with a sheet of paper with scribbles on it for their class project.

"Inuyasha, well, uhm…" Kagome let her voice fall. 'What do I tell her? "Yeah, he lives in Feudal Japan and is a half-dog demon." Yup, sounds disastrous to me.' A nervous throat cleared itself and she began tapping the pencil on the desk. "Well, he has an older half brother…they don't get along too well. His mother and father are dead, and he had a very rough childhood, so don't be shocked when his people skills aren't too good."

"Wow," whispered Serena. "An orphan like me." The mattress made a slight pop noise as Serena fell back onto it. "I lost them in a fire when I was five," she said as the memories came flooding back.

Kagome looked at her new friend in shock. The chair she had been sitting in almost tumped over as Kagome stood to give her a hug. "I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories," she whispered after she had helped her friend into a sitting position.

Serena shook her head which sent her silver locks flying and flashing in the sunlight streaming through the open window. "It's not your fault, you didn't know." A tissue was snapped out of its box as Serena wiped her tears away.

Meanwhile, outside, Inuyasha had almost stormed into the room when he heard Kagome begin to tell the stranger about his messed up past. If she were to find out, he wanted to be the one to tell her, but his eyes softened as he heard about her parent's deaths. 'At least she didn't try to say she knew how I felt without really knowing,' he thought quietly. He then suddenly decided he wanted to get to know here better. He'd tell Kagome after Serena left.

'Wait, why do I want to get to know her?'

'_Because you like her, dolt!'_

'Oh great; my inner voice.'

'_And don't you forget, buddy. Like I said, I think you like her!'_

'But I haven't even known her for two hours yet! Besides, what about Kikyo?'

'_What about the clay pot? She's dead fool, and she's nothing like the woman you fell in love with fifty years earlier either.'_

'True, but- no! I love Kikyo…don't I?'

'_If it's possible to love someone who's almost killed you, Kagome, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, and has given jewel shards to Naraku, sure, I guess you can love her,'_ said the voice with a sarcastic bite.

'Ok, I get the point, I should get over her.'

'_What with this new girl and all, I think you already have.'_

His inner voice quieted as he heard a door close.

"Ok Kagome, I'm coming over after school tomorrow to start right?" Serena stepped out of Kagome's house and into the fading sunlight. Her silver hair almost looked gold now as the sun's final moments stained it a brilliant yellow. A large bag was slung over her right shoulder and she stumbled a little as she put her left shoe on.

Kagome grabbed her shoulder to balance her. "Yeah, right after school, so you'll walk home again with me, ok?" Kagome gave the girl a hug before waving as she left. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Serena!"

"Ok, bye Kagome!" Serena got onto her tiptoes and waved back as she descended the steps.

Once her head disappeared, Inuyasha leapt out of the tree by Kagome's window and into her room. He opened her door and walked downstairs to find Kagome talking to her mother about dinner.

"You could have let her stay, Kagome," said Miss Higurashi as she chopped some veggies for dinner.

"No, she said she had to get home, something about a curfew that her landlord gave her or something. She's too young to be living on her own, so the landlord gave her a curfew and her next door neighbor checks on her to see if she's ok." Kagome snatched a piece of the carrot her mother had been chopping.

"Ah, I see," replied her mother. 'If I had known that, I would have asked her if she wished to live with us. It has to be better than coming home to a cold apartment everyday.'

Inuyasha cleared his throat and both women started as they found him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Goodness Inuyasha, you scared us," said Miss Higurashi as she clutched her racing heart. "I thought you'd left when Serena arrived." She paused after a moment and asked him if she had seen him.

"Yeah, she saw me, so what?" He was getting a little impatient; he wanted to talk to Kagome. Maybe if he found out where Serena lived he could keep an eye on her.

'_You just want to see her again.'_

He shut his voice up and waited for someone to say something. When no answer was forth-coming, he began to lightly tap his foot on the floor. "Well?"

"Oh nothing," she replied rather flippantly. "Are you staying for dinner, Inuyasha?"

He knew they were having curry, and he remembered how it burnt his tongue, but he wanted to talk to Kagome about Serena. Inuyasha felt his ears droop; he wouldn't be able to talk to Kagome about the silver-haired girl after all.

His train of thought crashed, however, when Kagome's mother told him he could have ramen instead of curry. He quickly agreed and leapt over to the counter with the ramen in it.

If Serena had heard the thoughts of Kagome's mother, she would have agreed with her. It _was_ lonely coming back to an empty apartment.

She unlocked the door and stepped inside. She was so tired, she forgot to remove her high-heeled shoes from her feet before stepping onto the carpet, and she made her way over to the kitchen to get dinner ready.

Serena peered into the fridge and then the freezer. 'I guess I need to go grocery shopping before this week's up. I'll only have pickles and mustard after tomorrow night.' She pulled out a TV dinner and popped it into an almost too small microwave. Numbers were pushed and the microwave began whirring as it cooked dinner.

A phone rang from the other end of the apartment. It was so small though, she made it to the phone in three strides. "Hello?"

"Miss Tsukino? So you're home?"

"Yes, Mr. Takashi, I'm home."

"Good to hear. Well, have a good night, Tsukino."

She saluted on her end of the phone. "Yes sir!"

Chuckling came from the other end of the phone. "I'm no longer a man of the army, Serena; you don't have to call me sir."

"Oh, but I saluted you and everything!" She laughed at the retired Colonel Lieutenant.

"I'll see you tomorrow Serena, ok?"

"Ok, see you later." She hung the phone up just in time to hear her dinner beep in the microwave. Her feet walked back over to the kitchen and opened the microwave door. Serena carefully took the dinner out and sat down on the couch to eat. A small prayer was said and she began eating.

'Wow, it's really lonely in here,' she thought as she ate a bite of her macaroni dinner. 'I might not have noticed if I hadn't made friends with Kagome today.' She sighed as she finished her dinner a few minutes later and dropped it into the trashcan next to the couch. Her blue gaze then swept over to the only thing that had survived the fire. The grand white piano.

It took up the most space in the one bedroom with a living/dining/kitchen area. With the couch squished against the wall, she could barely squeeze by. She stood and opened the lid and sat down on the slightly black bench. She ran her fingers across the black and white keys as she tried to remember a song that she had been taught by her mother. She pressed a key and frowned when it was the wrong one. 'Come on, where is it?' After two more tries, she finally found it.

Inuyasha heard a sad melody floating from Serena's apartment. He had asked Kagome where she lived and told her he wanted to check up on the girl that had come over earlier that day. The hanyou remembered the conversation quite clearly.

"_So, Kagome…" Inuyasha trailed off as he looked at Kagome after they had finished dinner._

"_Yeah, what is it Inuyasha?" She tucked her hair behind her ears as she turned to regard the half inu-youkai. 'I wonder what he wants to talk about. He never talks to me like that.' She sat in her desk chair and waited for him to begin speaking._

"_Well, I was just wondering where Serena lives." He nervously began to fidget as Kagome just stared at him. "Keh, what are you looking at wench?" Crossing his arms in impatience, he waited for Kagome to speak.._

"_Ah-ha!" Kagome tackled Inuyasha. "There's the Inuyasha I know so well!" _

"_Oi wench! Get off! What do you mean the 'Inuyasha you know so well'?" He struggled to get out from the choke hold the girl now held him in._

"_You were so…what's the word? Nice, that's it!" She looked into his eyes and saw them soften a bit. _

"_Well, I figure I could talk to her and get to know her better, you know?" His ears twitched a little as he heard Kagome giggling. "Hey, why are you laughing at me!" Amber eyes widened as the giggles burst into full-fledged laughter. _

"_Oh you're so cute when you like someone!" _

"_Huh?" 'Wow, intelligent response, genius.' Standing, he turned his back to her. "So what if I like her?"…oops. White ears drooped as he realized what he just said and he dropped onto the bed, utterly defeated._

_Kagome began whooping and jumping around her room. "Hah! I knew it!" After she calmed down, she plopped onto the bed next to Inuyasha. "So," she said, "what do you want to know about her?"_

"_Uh, well…" He scooted back as she placed herself inches from his face. _

"_Well?"_

_He jumped from the bed and perched on the desk. "Give me some space, would ya?" His head shook as if he was clearing it and looked at Kagome who was now a safe distance away. "I just wanted to know some stuff, like…I dunno, stuff!" He jumped from the desk and slumped down onto the floor in his regular pose and scowled at the floor._

_Kagome thoughtfully scratched her chin and began speaking. "Well, she lost her parents in a fire when she was really little, and the only thing that survived the fire was a grand piano, so she has that somewhere in her apartment. She doesn't like curry; she says it's too spicy; just like you…" She looked at her ceiling. 'That's weird.' She shook her head and continued. "She's really nice and energetic, but at the same time very mature. Then again, I guess she would have to be; she lived on her own for a very long time." Kagome now began pacing and ticking things off on her fingers. "Her hair's naturally silver…she said her grandmother had the same shade. She's an only child, like her parents were, and she can play the piano, guitar, violin, and flute really well." Kagome then sat back on her bed. "That's about all I know about her so far."_

_Inuyasha nodded his head and stood. "So, where does she live?" That had been the one thing Kagome had not told him. _

"_Huh? Why would you want to know that?" She had a feeling that he would want to see her, but then something struck her. "And how are you going to get inside her apartment? Through the window? Then you'll have to tell her about the warring states era and what you are. She'll think you're crazy or something."_

_The hanyou shook his head. "No, she smelled different, Kagome. She smells like a hanyou as well." He had smelled it the first time he had seen her. She was like him, a half dog demon, half human._

So, here he was, standing outside her window, listening as the last chord floated through the air from the piano. He felt a cold drop on his head and realized that it had started raining. Well, it was now or never. Raising an uncertain clawed fingertip, he began tapping on the window.


	2. Chapter 2

The characters in this story aren't mine, they belong to their respectivecreators.

Ch 2

Serena's hands unexpectedly slammed into the piano keys, making a sour chord. Her fingers swiftly removed themselves and the dampening pedal was raised to cut off the noise. She stood and began to walk to the window. The curtains were thrown back and she almost had a heart attack. There, out in the rain, was Inuyasha.

She grabbed the window and pulled it open. Rain and Inuyasha blew harshly into the room, soaking her and the furniture. Frowning, she slammed the window shut and picked him up from his position on the ground. "So, were you just gong to sit on my window sill all night or what?"

Inuyasha tensed at the word 'sit', but quickly realizing that it wasn't Kagome, he huffed and began speaking. Clawed hands ran through his hair and pushed it out of his face. "No, I figured that you'd open your window eventually." He stood with her help and began shivering.

Dry silver hair shook around Serena's head. "You'll catch a cold if you don't get dried off," she muttered as she headed to the bathroom. She emerged seconds later with a dark blue towel and tossed it at him. "Dry yourself off and I'll make some tea, alright?"

Inuyasha huffed as he pulled the dark towel from his face and began drying his hair. 'Insufferable wench,' he thought. 'I was concerned so I come and check up on her and she gets all angry.' As soon as he was dry, he walked the small distance to her kitchen after dropping the towel onto the back of a chair.

She was standing by the stove watching the kettle rather intently. "So, you mind telling me what you're doing here so late?" Her gaze hadn't left the kettle as she spoke to him.

Inuyasha looked at her, dumbfounded, and struggled to come up with an answer. "Keh," he weakly murmured as he leaned on the kitchen counter.

"Yeah, nice answer," came her response as she picked up the kettle and poured the water into two mugs. "Why are you here? I won't ask again." Cabinet doors slammed as she searched for the tea. A cry of triumph interrupted him as she placed the tea packets in the hot water.

He heard the clacking of her shoes on the linoleum floor as she walked over to him. A tea cup was placed in his hands, warming them instantly. He looked up and met her intense blue gaze. "So?"

"Well, I…I just…wantedtoknowwhyyou'reahanyou," he blurted out. The words came in a jumbled mess and he cursed at his nervousness.

"The same reason why you are," she said as she sipped her tea. "My father was an inu demon, and my mother was human, a wiccan. Strange combination, huh?" She tucked a stray hair behind her ear as she laughed.

"My mother was a princess," said Inuyasha as he remembered his mother. "She was so kind, and father was, well, he was a tai-youkai." Inuyasha sipped his tea but grimaced when his tea was too strong. The cup was removed from his hands and replaced with hers. He sent a questioning glance in her direction, and was answered with a "What?"

"Why did you switch teas?"

A pause filled the air before a deep sigh broke it. "Well, your tea was too strong right? Mine's not too bad yet, so you can have it." Small shoulders shrugged as Serena sipped Inuyasha's dark tea. She held in a grimace after the overly strong tea attacked her mouth. 'Wow, it's really bitter,' she thought as she stood to walk to the kitchen to get some sugar. 'I'll need a lot of it.'

A smug look passed across Inuyasha's face. "See? I told you it was dark." 'Serves her right,' he thought as he took a sip from her old mug. 'Hm…I can taste some of her lip gloss…strawberries.' He shrugged and took a big gulp this time.

"It just needs sugar," she loudly said from the kitchen. Heels once again clacked against the linoleum floor before becoming soft footfalls as she hit the carpet. She soon sat on the couch and removed her high heels. 'Ouch,' she thought as she rubbed her feet.

Inuyasha looked at the stiletto heels she had removed. "Why do you wear those things?" He poked at the shoes. 'Man, those look painful,' he thought as he imagined having to wear them. Shuddering, he turned to the girl massaging her feet. "I didn't think you could wear shoes like that to Kagome's school."

"You can't, I had work today after going to Kagome's house," she said as she removed the thick knit sweater revealing a sleeveless tank top. Silver hair starkly contrasted with the black as she began braiding it.

'I wonder how soft it is,' he thought absently. He shook his head as he realized the direction his thoughts had wandered off in. 'Stupid, you don't even know her and you're thinking like this already!' But his fingers couldn't help it as they reached out of their own violation and fingered a strand of her hair.

As she braided her hair lower, her fingers touched Inuyasha's. Her eyes turned to his amber gaze and they locked. She almost didn't have enough breath to ask him what he was doing.

He quickly snatched his fingers from her hair and looked at the ground in an attempt to hide his blush. "Uh, I just saw a speck of something in your hair, that's all," he said evasively.

Serena nodded her head in disbelief. "Yeah, sure," she said as a ponytail holder was pulled off of her wrist and onto the end of her braid. She then flicked the thick braid over her shoulder and looked again at Inuyasha. "So, one last time: what are you doing here so late?"

"Well, I just wanted to check up on you." He folded his arms into his haori and looked at her through his bangs. "I heard from Kagome that you lived alone, and I wanted to talk and stuff. So now, you answer my question: why haven't you told Kagome that you're a half demon?"

"I had no idea that she knew such people like us existed, that's all." She shrugged. "Which brings me to another question: where did you come from?" Perching at the edge of the small love seat, she drew her knees to her chest.

"You see, that's kind of difficult to explain," said Inuyasha as he scratched his head. He sighed and began his tale.

Two hours later, he finished his story by telling her of their last battle that had happened about a week ago.

"Wow, fighting a bear demon, huh? Mortal bears are bad enough, so demon bears have to be real serious." She stretched out on the small love seat and placed her feet onto Inuyasha's lap.

"Oi, what're you doing?" He pushed her feet off his lap, which ended up pushing her off the couch. His eyes widened nervously as he heard a thump and an "Ouch!" as Serena's butt came in contact with the floor.

She rubbed her rump as she stood up. "That hurt Inuyasha," she said flatly. 'Geez, what a moron,' she thought as began dusting herself off.

"Oh, I have another question," said Inuyasha as he looked down at her position from the floor. "How do you look normal?" 'If she's a hanyou like me, then why doesn't she have ears or claws or fangs?'

She lifted her right hand and for the first time, Inuyasha noticed a ring on her middle finger. It was silver with a white moon stone in it. When she removed it, her features began changing. Her ears moved to the top of her head and became triangular in shape, growing fur. Nails and teeth also lengthened as the ring slid off her finger.

The ears on her head twitched as they listened to the sounds surrounding her. She turned to face him fully and cocked her head like a puppy. "Happy now?" Ears twitched.

Inuyasha's eyes strayed to her ears. 'I wonder if this is what Kagome felt when she first saw my ears,' he thought as his hands reached to her ears.

Innocent eyes watched the hand that was traveling to her ears. 'What is he doing?' A silver brow delicately arched itself.

His hand gently touched one of her ears, causing it to twitch slightly in annoyance. Inuyasha then reached his other hand up and began rubbing both ears. He watched in amazement as she leaned into his touch and began purring. "Are you sure you aren't a cat demon?" he questioned as he heard her purring.

"No," she said as she tried to control herself. 'Stop purring, girl! You haven't even known him for that long, and you're already purring for him!' She tried moving away, but his hands wouldn't budge. "Would you pleeeease stop?" She drew out her words as his hands rubbed her ears.

'Hm, I'm finally on the giving end of an ear rub,' he thought as he smiled. His smile grew as he saw her leg twitching. He finally gave into her soft pleas and stopped rubbing her ears.

Serena frowned as his hands were removed. 'Why does it feel like I've lost something?' She stood up and looked at him in confusion. "What was that all about?"

Inuyasha was brought from his thoughts as Serena spoke to him. "Huh?" 'All what about? Oh, the ear rub.' His eyes blinked once, then twice. He wracked his mind for an answer. "Keh, I just thought you'd not gotten an ear rub in a long time, that's all," he said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"You're right," she said sadly as she remembered her folks. "It's been eleven years since I got an ear rub from someone. The last time I remember getting one, it was the night of the fire." She sadly closed her eyes as tears began leaking through her closed lids. As they opened again, her eyes held no emotion as small rivers made their way down her face. She wiped them away and tried running her hands through her hair, but claws got caught in the braid. She took her hand out of her hair, removed the tie, and ran her fingers through her hair. 'One of my habits, running my hand through my hair,' she thought. 'I get that from Dad.' The memory only served to break the dam of tears she had been trying to hold back.

Inuyasha wanted to slap himself. 'Way to go, you just made her re-live one, if not the most, painful time in her life.' He uncertainly reached out a hand to pat her shoulder, and in the next instant, she flew into his arms, sobbing. 'Uh…' Arms wrapped around her as Inuyasha closed his eyes as he began stroking her back. "Shh, it's ok Serena." He didn't really know how to comfort a crying girl, and he hoped he was doing a good job.

Her fists clenched his haori as she tried to calm down. 'Why did I just break down? I never have before, so why now?' She rubbed her tears away by pressing her face into his haori.

Inuyasha blushed as Serena pressed into his chest. 'Whoa, why am I blushing? I just wanted to be her friend, right?'

'_Yeah right, just friends. Pfft.'_

'Shut up, stupid inner voice…'

'_Nope, I won't; it's my job, so here goes: you like her!' _

'I don't either!'

'_You do too, you're hugging her.'_

'I'm only hugging her because I made her cry.'

'_So, if you didn't care, you wouldn't be hugging her, and you wouldn't care if you made her cry or not.'_

'…'

Inuyasha gently shook his head to rid himself of the conversation and turned his head back to the silver haired girl in his arms. Her shaking had gone down to a slight shiver every now and then, and she was no longer sobbing. Grabbing her shoulders, he gently pushed her back to look into her eyes. "You ok now?" He used his hand to wipe at her remaining tears.

Serena nodded her head as she wiped at her face. "Yeah," she said as she sniffled, "I'll be fine." 'I just totally broke down in front of him,' she thought with a blush beginning to stain her cheeks. She took a deep breath and stood from the couch.

"So, when do you need to go back, Inuyasha?" She picked up the now empty tea cups and began hand washing them in the sink.

Inuyasha looked up from the floor at Serena. "I don't know, but me and Kagome'll be in the warring states era tomorrow, and we'll be gone for a week or so." The hanyou at the couch leapt up as he heard the hanyou at the sink drop a cup to the floor.

Serena had dropped the cup she had been washing. 'Leaving? For a few days? Then…I'll be alone without them here…and what about the project?' Inuyasha began picking up the pieces of the shattered tea cup and gave her a questioning glare.

She nervously grabbed for an answer. "Well, the people at school…they only accepted me because Kagome was there convincing everyone that I was a good person." She ran a shaking hand through her hair.

"Why would they need her to tell them that you're a good person?" It suddenly hit him. 'Silver hair…they probably think she dyed it and was in a gang before she transferred.' That's what Kagome had told him her friends had thought that when they first saw him. He sighed deeply. "Aw, come on, I think they'll trust you." Shoulders shrugged as he walked over to the window. "The rain has let up a bit, I guess I'd better go," he said as he opened the window. A delicate hand snagged his haori.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," Serena said softly. "For listening to me, and telling me what really goes on when Kagome's 'sick'." She gave his ears one last scratch before he leapt out of her apartment and into the rain.

The next day, Serena woke to a still raining city. She sleepily rubbed her eyes as she gazed out her window. 'I wonder if school will be too bad without Kagome watching over me. Sighing, she began to get ready for the long day ahead.

School had been horrible, and that was putting it lightly.

The boys were making fun of her, the girls were scared of her, and Kagome's friends had been a little iffy about her hanging out with them without Kagome being there. And then, there had been one of the jocks…

She headed to the bathroom and pulled her uniform shirt up and gazed at her stomach. A dark and ugly bruise had formed where he had punched her earlier that day. Apparently, she scared his girlfriend…but cheerleaders were so easily frightened! 'Cowards.' She lowered her shirt and made her way to her fridge. Mustard and pickles stared back at her.

'Great, I need to go shopping,' she thought angrily. Her glare was sent to the window, and she saw rain coming down in sheets. Great. Eyes darted to the clock. '11:34? Well, there's no way that I'll be able to ask Mrs. Biggsby for something to eat, and it's way past my curfew, so no late night shopping.' She grabbed the pickles out of the fridge and she stormed over and snatched a fork from her silverware drawer. She speared two pickles and ate them quickly. After her dinner, she flopped into the couch, thinking she would just rest her eyes for a bit.

Well, a bit ended up being until seven the next morning. She snapped out of her sleep when one of her legs flopped to the floor from off the couch. Her hair was parted like a curtain as she searched for a clock. 'Crud,' she thought as she shot into her bathroom.

Today at school had been as bad if not worse than yesterday. A pack of ice was removed from the freezer as she put it over her right eye. _That_ had been a direct result of Chad, the leader of the kendo team, just because he didn't like her. 'Yeah, I bet he couldn't think of a reason; he's way too dumb for that.' She removed the ice as she stood in front of a mirror and looked at her eye. 'Swollen and purple. Good thing tomorrow's Saturday, and we get a few days off the week after that, so hopefully Kagome would be back soon.'

Meanwhile, in the feudal era:

"But Inuyasha, I need to go back!"

Inuyasha shook his head at Kagome. "No, you said a few days hunting shards, and it's only been two!" He crossed his arms as she tried to get home again.

Kagome saw red in front of her eyes. "I can't leave Serena for long, she's all alone, and no one at school looked comfortable with her. They probably thought she was in a gang because of her hair!" She glared at the inu-youkai.

Shippou looked at the fighting pair. "So Miroku, who do you think'll win?" The young kit popped a sucker in his mouth as he listened to the monk's answer.

"Lady Kagome has a good reason," said Miroku as he rubbed his chin. "It's for a friend, after all."

"I agree," said Sango as she stood next to the rock the small fox kit was sitting on. "She would do anything for a friend." Her brown eyes looked at the two fighters. "Besides, she'll just have to say that one word, and it's all over."

Kagome took a deep breath and was about to say that infamous word, but Inuyasha clamped his hand over her mouth. "I'll make a deal with you, ok?" Kagome nodded as he removed his hand. "Just one more day, and then you can go back, ok?"

She reluctantly nodded. "Fine by me," she replied as she walked back to the village.

Serena opened her blurry eye and looked at the digital clock across from her bed. The one good eye squinted as she tried to de-blur the numbers. 'Only six thirty? And it's a Saturday, so why am I up so early?' Her throat began to tickle and she began coughing to halt the sensation. She took some deep breaths as she tried to get herself back into the habit of breathing. 'Walking out in the rain wasn't the best idea, I guess,' she thought as she stood and headed for the shower.

Ten minutes later found Serena grabbing her purse to attempt grocery shopping. She was donned in baggy blue sweat pants and a white baggy sweat shirt. The rain had stopped, but it had left a sharp chill in its wake. Keys clinked and locked her door, and she was soon out on the sidewalk.

As she walked, she thought about her previous two days without her best friend. 'They were horrible,' she thought as she jumped over a large rain puddle. Work had been bad as well. There were a lot of unsatisfied customers, she got in a fight with one of her co-workers, and then she had to walk home in the rain because she didn't have enough money for the bus fare, let alone a taxi.

The automatic doors slid open as Serena stepped into the large grocery store. Eyes scanned the aisles and she headed for the aisle where the ramen was located. On her way there, she ran into Miss Higurashi.

"Oh, hello Serena!" Miss H. grabbed Serena into a large hug, but quickly pulled back as she felt the heat radiating off of the younger girl's forehead. "Dear, you have a rather bad fever!" Brown eyes widened in worry.

Serena sheepishly smiled at her.

"And this," said Miss Higurashi said as her hand grabbed Serena's cheek. A critical eye examined the blackness that was decorating her right eye.

Serena had been trying to hide it with her hair, but she had obviously failed. "I got that from running into one of my doorknobs at home. I locked myself out of my house and tried picking the lock, but I ended up running into it when Mr. Takashi asked what I was doing. He ended up giving me a spare key." She finished her long tale and hoped she would buy it.

"Nice try, dear," said Miss H. as she laughed at the expression on her face. The lie may have been executed perfectly, but Miss Higurashi was a mother. "I can tell when someone's lying; I have two children to practice on, after all." The woman laughed. "I do have a question for you though." As the two had been talking, Serena opened a freezer door and tried grabbing some microwavable dinners. Miss H. grabbed Serena's hand and asked her "Would you like to stay with us, Serena?"

Serena looked at Miss Higurashi. "Really? You wouldn't mind?" 'This sounds too good to be true,' she thought.

"Yes, I'm perfectly serious, Serena. Going home to an empty apartment doesn't sound too appealing to me, and you'd be living with other people who could take care of you." Miss Higurashi grabbed some ramen for the next time Inuyasha would come over and turned to Serena as she waited for an answer.

The silver-haired girl looked at the woman who was offering to open her home up to her. She sighed and said, "Yes."

"Alright, you can move in with us right now, if you wish." 'I hope she does; she needs some company.'

"Well, I'd like to, but I need to tell my landlord where I'm going, and I have a rather large piece of furniture to move out." 'Large? I mean huge. Still to this day, I don't know how the movers got it in my room.'

"And what's that, Serena?"

"My parents' grand piano."

Miss H. looked at Serena in surprise. "How did they get it in there in the first place?"

Serena laughed. "You see, that's not even an answer that _I_ know. Though, I'll have to ask them." Shrugging, Serena tried grabbing something else that had been on her list. Miss H. once again grabbed Serena's hand.

"No need," she said. "I'll be buying the food from now on, Serena. Maybe you should just grab a snack or something for tonight, but you'll be living with us from now on." Miss H. smiled.

Serena felt tears stinging her eyes. 'It's been so long since I've had someone to take care of me,' she thought sadly with a weak smile. "Thank you so much, Miss Higurashi, you have no idea how happy you've just made me."

"I think I have an idea, dear, and call me Mom, alright?" The next thing she knew, Serena had slammed herself into Miss Higurashi for a hug. The older woman wrapped her hands around Serena's waist and hugged her back just as fiercely. "I would rather prefer that you move in with us tonight so I can take care of your fever, though."

"Don't worry, Mom, I'll be fine until tomorrow." Serena smiled a mega-watt smile as she called someone 'Mom' after years of living on her own. 'Wow, a family again,' she thought as she wiped a tear from her eye.

Hey people, thanks to all who're reading my story, and thanks to sangoscourage for the review! I would also like to say thanks to my friend (can't remember her author name, it's too long) for editing!

'Til next update!


	3. Chapter 3

AN: OMG, someone alert the media I am UPDATING after almost 2 years

AN: OMG, someone alert the media I am UPDATING after almost 2 years! I promised you guys I'd finish, and I'm slowly but surely doing it! Thanks to everyone who is reading, and even more to those of you reviewing; it means a lot to me! Without further ado, the long awaited (?) chapter 3!!

Disclaimer:…sorry if I haven't been keeping up with these, but as always, Serena belongs to Naoko, and Inuyasha to…wow, it's been so long I can't remember…but he doesn't belong to me. Only the story does!

…k, now on to chapter 3!!

--

Ch 3

Serena wasn't ok the next morning. She once again opened a bleary eye to catch the blurry red numbers on her digital clock. 'Geez, once again a way too early time to wake up,' she thought as she slammed her pillow over her head in attempt to get some more sleep. She was once again brought out from under her 'cave' as she heard knocking on her door.

'That's right; I wanted the movers to come early so they could take care of my piano.' She wanted the movers to have enough time to get the piano out of her apartment and into the Higurashi household before too long. She stumbled to the door and opened it.

The movers looked at the young girl in surprise. "Are ya sick, little missy?" One of the movers walked in after Serena had invited them in and looked at the piano. The one who asked Serena if she was alright told her he knew the whole story. "I'm glad you finally have yourself a family, little one."

She nodded happily. "Yeah, me too," she said. "Oh, question." The two moving men looked at her and waited for her to ask her question. "Aye, lass? What is it?"

"How do you guys get this moved out of here?" She pointed at the large piano that sat in the middle of her cramped apartment. It was heavy and difficult to move around, so how had they gotten it to her third story apartment?

"We put it on a crane," said the red-haired man in an Irish accent. Having a large balcony helped with that, she supposed. The other nodded and Serena's eyes widened. What if they dropped it?

"Don't worry," said the head mover. "We move only pianos for a reason, and we're quite talented if I do say so myself."

"Boss is right," said the red head. "We've been moving pianos for years, so you don't have to worry aboot us droppin' it."

"Go and have something to eat, and we'll be out of here in no time."

Serena nodded and walked into the kitchen and prepared a pop-tart. It had been one of the few things she had bought last night. 'Yeah, a real gourmet breakfast, eh Serena?' She bit into the cherry flavored pop-tart and watched as the men moved her piano.

--

Serena headed to the Sunset Shrine in the early morning with a suitcase of her belongings. She looked up at the stairs in slight annoyance. 'How am I gonna get up those stairs and still be alive when I do?' She sighed and began the hike up the stairs. 'I've been living like a human so long I'm even getting tired like they do: way too fast. I need to learn how to use my demon abilities.' She was barely half way up when she needed to take a break.

'I wonder when Kagome and Inuyasha are coming back,' she thought as she resumed climbing the stairs, humming a song she'd heard recently.

By the time Serena was finished, she was at the top of the shrine steps, and was very out of breath. 'Never sing and walk up the stairs, the **shrine** stairs, at the same time: it's hazardous to one's health…' She leaned over and rested her hands on her knees, and her eyes looked through silver hair as she spied the house. She rose to her full height and walked into the house. "Mom, I'm home!"

Souta ran around the corner and barreled into her legs. "Yay, I have another sister!" His arms circled around her legs and squeezed. He then looked at her through his hair and said, "So, Mom asked you to live with us."

"Yeah, that's right Souta," she said happily. She ruffled his hair and walked over to the couch. It creaked as she put her full body weight onto it and she sighed. Her head was pounding and burning at the same time. 'Man, when I get sick, I really get sick.'

Souta walked over to her and handed her a cup of juice and two pills. "Mom said they would help with the fever and stuff, and the juice is orange juice…vitamin C or something…" He then sat next to her on the couch. Not two minutes later, he began squirming like he wanted to ask her a question.

"Go ahead and ask…either that, or you need to go to the bathroom." She stared at him with an amused expression on his face.

The little boy blushed. "No, I just wanted to ask you a question."

"Go ahead," she replied as she reclined on the couch after popping the two pills into her mouth. Just after she had taken a sip to help the pills go down, Souta asked his question.

"Are you a half-demon?"

Orange liquid spewed in a stream from her mouth as the question registered in her sickness fogged mind. After she had wiped the boy off somewhat, she looked into his eyes and asked a little too calmly, "Where did you hear that?"

"Well," the little boy began squirming again. "Inuyasha told Kagome, and I was eavesdropping on her that night." He hugged his head as he saw her pick up a hand and fist it, "Please don't hurt me!"

She only gave him a slight bonk on his head, but sadly looked at him. "I wish I could have been the one to tell all of you," she said after a bit. She fingered the ring on her right hand and removed it. Silver ears popped out from her hair, and her nails turned into claws, growing in length and sharpness. She winced as her fangs grew out and she gently massaged her lip where the fang had scraped it. Blue eyes looked at the boy as she waited for his reaction.

"You…are…so…COOL!" Souta began bouncing around on the couch and chattered about how she was so cool. "Wow, do you have any attacks like Inuyasha? Do you have a sword like him, or a weapon? How old are you?"

A clawed hand pressed against his mouth to stop the rapid fire of questions. "No, I don't really have attacks like Inuyasha; I've lived here for my whole life and never really needed them. A weapon, no, I don't have one, but I'm fairly experienced with a whip and a broadsword, though. And, to answer your last question, the same age as your sister if I'm in her grade, duh." She once again cuffed him on the head.

"Ooh, a whip and broadsword, really? Awesome, Serena!" The boy was now sitting on the floor and looking up at her with admiring eyes. 'Wow, that's so cool!'

Soon, a door opened and slammed shut. "I'm home!" Kagome soon appeared in the living room with a tired looking half-demon. Her eyes soon fell on the figure sitting on the couch. "Oh, Serena, hey!" She rushed over and gave the hanyou on the couch a hug.

"See, I told you she was here, Kagome," said Inuyasha as he folded his arms into his fire-rat haori. 'I said I smelled her from the well house, but no! She wouldn't believe me.'

"So, Mom asked you to live with us, huh?" Kagome smiled as she sat on the couch with her.

"Kagome," came her mother's voice, "I wouldn't get too close to her; she has a horrible fever. She told me she didn't want to get anyone else sick." Miss H. walked into the room and handed Serena some chicken soup.

Serena gratefully took it and nodded at her mom's statement. "It's true; I don't want you getting sick Kagome. I'd feel bad if I did. After all, you are taking care of me." She took a sip of soup and yelped when it scorched her tongue. "Hot!!" She stuck her tongue out and waved her hand in front of it as she attempted to cool it down.

Inuyasha…well, he was trying really hard not to laugh. He was failing miserably.

He had his hands in front of his face in an attempt to keep her from seeing the smile that was spreading across his face. 'She needs to be more careful with that,' thought the male hanyou as the dam finally burst. "HAHAHA!" He pointed to her as he laughed and tears streamed from his tightly closed eyes.

'Oh, he'll pay for that,' she thought. Standing, she walked over to him. "Oh, you think that's funny, do you?" She raises a hand into the air, and a feather suddenly appeared in it.

'Huh? How'd she do that?' Inuyasha's musings were cut short when the white fuzzy thing attacked him. "AH! THAT TICKLES, SERENA, QUIT IT!!" He tried to pull away from her to get away from the fuzz, but she latched onto his arm and held him.

"Say you're sorry, Inuyasha, then I'll let you go." The corners of her mouth lifted into a smirk as she watched the hanyou squirm under the feather's gentle strokes.

"NEVER!" He was trying to grab the feather and shred it. 'That thing'll come out looking like a dead bird when I'm through with it!' He snatched at it, but missed.

Serena was now pinning Inuyasha to the floor. "Say you're sorry and I'll let you go, Inuyasha," she said a little too sweetly. Her wrist was flicking the little feather faster and faster with each passing moment, and she showed no signs of tiring.

"FINE, I'M SORRY!" Inuyasha stood up and took deep breaths as he ran his hand through his hair. 'Geez, she can get crazy.'

As soon as her weight was lifted, he tackled her to the ground and smirked. "Rule one: don't let your guard…down?" He looked at her face and saw and smelled tears streaming from her eyes. That was when he noticed one of her eyes was an odd purple color.

Miss Higurashi then came around the corner and saw Inuyasha on top of the other silver haired teen. "Oh Inuyasha be careful; she has some bruised ribs!" The woman rushed over and helped Inuyasha off of her. "Are you alright dear?"

Serena just nodded as she tried to get her breath back. "Yeah, I'm ok Mom, just got the wind knocked out of me." She lifted herself carefully back to the couch and sighed as her body curled into a ball for warmth and in an attempt to stop the pain.

Kagome frowned as she heard of Serena's injury. She sat at the end of the couch where Serena's head was. "Serena?" she asked nervously. "Where did you get those injuries?"

Blue eyes looked at Kagome's dove-grey ones. "It was at school three days ago…the day you left. Some guys were treating me bad. I scared someone's girlfriend, and then Chad whacked me a good one just because he didn't like me." Her body once again turned to the inside of the couch and closed her eyes trying to get some sleep.

Inuyasha frowned. 'A few days ago huh? That's probably when I wouldn't let Kagome go back to her time.' The half-demon felt guilty. Guilty for not letting Kagome look after her and guilt and anger at himself for jumping on her like that. "Well, the good part is that your healing will go by pretty fast, so you won't be hurt or sick for too long." He saw her nod and wind herself into a tighter ball.

Souta then came from the kitchen with a bowl of soup. His hand reached out to grab Serena's shoulder to gently shake it. "Hey Serena, Mom wants you to eat this before you fall asleep." The last bowl had been spilled during the tickle war, and somewhere in the confusion was cleaned by Miss Higurashi.

The girl just buried herself deeper into the couch. "I'm cold and I want to go to sleep Souta." After the sentence was finished, she began coughing again. Kagome snatched the orange juice from the table and handed it to Serena.

The other girl smiled in between her coughs as she took it. She sat up, still coughing, and brought the cup to her lips. The coughs stopped as she drank, but came back forcefully when she had finished swallowing the liquid.

Miss Higurashi came out of her bedroom with a blanket and some vapor rub. She carefully set the vapor rub on the table as she unfurled the blanket and wrapped it around her waist. The small blue bottle was opened, and Serena and Inuyasha's sensitive noses immediately picked up the awful smell. "It may smell," said the older woman, "but it'll help you breathe better."

Kagome's hand caught her mother's. "Mom, she's a half demon like Inuyasha." A delicate finger pointed at the silver haired half demon who was trying to escape the smell. "Her nose is just as sensitive."

Her mother frowned. "Well, I can't use this then; it might make her coughing worse." She stood as she screwed the cap back onto the bottle, covering the substance's smell. "She'll have to have cough medicine I suppose."

Souta wrinkled his nose. "That 'citrus' flavored crap?" His tongue was stuck out of his mouth as he remembered bad times with that medicine. It claimed to be citrus flavored, but it tasted horrible and stung your mouth and throat as it went down.

Kagome also made a slight gagging noise as her brother mentioned their 'favorite' medicine. "It'll just taste bad for a little while Serena," assured the darker haired girl. "You'll have some soup to take away the nasty taste, too."

The female hanyou sat up and took the small cup of yellow medicine from her mother's hand. She barely got a whiff of it before she downed it like a shot. As soon as it was swallowed, she began sputtering. The orange juice was once again handed to her as she attempted to rid herself of the nasty 'citrus crap' as Souta had dubbed it earlier. 'Boy, he wasn't kidding!' After the nasty taste was out of her mouth, she looked to Kagome and Inuyasha.

"So, how was the Feudal Era?"

Inuyasha looked to Kagome. When the girl's head nodded, Inuyasha turned his head back to Serena. "Things have been going alright, but things here haven't been, have they?" Serena looked away from the hanyou's piercing gold eyes. Inuyasha took a deep breath and resumed speaking. "Kagome and I have also been talking between each other and we think it'd be a good idea for you to come to the past with us."

Her head snapped up to look at Inuyasha. "Are the two of you serious?" She stumbled up from the couch, walked over to where he was standing and hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered as tears leaked form her eyes.

Inuyasha was a little stunned to say the least. "Are you sure?" 'I expected her to say yes, but not right away!' Arms wrapped around the female hanyou as he spoke comfortingly to her. "Kagome told me the kids at that skool weren't exactly being nice, so she suggested you drop out and go between here and the Feudal Era like she does. She also said her and her mom would home skool you."

"Thank you so much you two!" Serena squeezed Inuyasha once more before then going to attack Kagome. "It's a great idea," she pulled away to look her in the eyes, "but I'll need to learn to use my powers and fight won't I?"

"If you don't want to get hurt, then yes," said Kagome. "Also, the people there won't like you for being a hanyou, but me, Miroku, Shippo, Kaede, Kirara, and Inuyasha will be there with you."

"That's more than at school," Serena replied as she sat down on the couch again. 'I can't believe that they asked me to go to the Feudal Era with them…I wonder what her friends are like,' she thought as her eyelids began to droop.

Miss Higurashi walked back into the room and saw Serena begin to doze off. Walking over to Inuyasha and Kagome, she said, "She's tired, so maybe the two of you should let her rest for a little while, she is sick, after all."

Inuyasha nodded but sat down just in front of the couch. "I'll stay here with her in case she needs anything." The gruff tone of voice left no room for argument.

'It's cute really,' thought Kagome as she giggled. The half dog demon was rather protective of her here, and it made Kagome wonder if Serena would be able to take two steps in the Feudal Era by herself.

--

Sometime during the night, Serena woke up. Clouded eyes searched the ceiling and she winced as pain lanced through her head. 'I have a killer headache.' Rubbing her forehead didn't really seem to help either. She sat up and tried standing, but she began to sway. Just as she thought she would tumble to the ground, arms caught her and set her back onto the couch.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Inuyasha had fallen into a light sleep but was woken by the girl shuffling on the couch. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get up and move even when you've been told to rest."

Serena sighed in agitation and slight pain. "I have a headache Inuyasha, and I doubt I would be able to fall back asleep with it pounding into my head." The pulsating pain was right over her left eye and she began to feel nauseous and dizzy.

Inuyasha smelled the sickness that was floating around the younger hanyou and wrinkled his nose. 'She smells really sick…' He stood up and headed to the medicine cabinet. Kagome's mother had shown him where to find some basic medical supplies after Kagome had been hurt in battle once. The mother wanted Inuyasha to know where everything was located so that if he was the one taking care of Kagome, he would know where to look for the supplies.

The cabinet door creaked open, and Inuyasha winced at the loud noise that pierced through the silent night. 'I hope the family didn't hear that.' In the back of his mind he knew they shouldn't, but the noise was blown out of proportion due to the lack of noise. Finding what he was looking for, he got a glass of water and headed back to the living room.

Serena sighed as she tried massaging the pain out of her forehead…it wasn't working.

'Come on, I need sleep, and in order to sleep, I need to not have a massive ache in my head!' She was about to scream in frustration, but was surprised to see Inuyasha with a cup of water and a bottle of pills.

"Here, Kagome's mom said these'll help with head pains." He handed her the small bottle and the glass, plopping to the floor when the objects had been passed on. 'I hope she gets better soon.' Then a thought struck him. 'But I thought demons, even half demons, didn't get sick…' He decided to tell Serena about that little fact.

Serena removed the top of the bottle and shook it until two red pills came from the bottle. "Yeah, I've heard about that, but I'm guessing since I've lived like a human my whole life, some of my demon attributes have weakened." She popped the pills in her mouth and gulped down the water. Placing it on the table when she was done, she grabbed the blankets and carefully eased herself to lie down on the couch.

Inuyasha nodded; that was a good explanation, and he then wondered if he could bring her immunities and strength up while they were in the Feudal Era. Shaking his head, he made himself a note to ask her abut training when she was better. Sighing as he leaned against the couch, he once again let his eyes close as he traveled to the realm of dreams.

--

Did you like? I'll be sure to update sooner next time!

-MoonFace01


	4. Chapter 4

Holy Cow, I'm updating

Holy Cow, I'm updating! Amazing, right? Thanks to all you who have reviewed, and there's a lil' something in here for sangoscourage, so thanks so much for the support!

Disclaimer: I don't know if I've been keeping up with these, so for all the chapters that don't have disclaimers, Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko and Inuyasha and co. belong to Takahashi!

Ch 4

The next morning, Serena opened her eyes to once again see white ceiling. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the light as she sat up. Spots swam before her eyes as she began felling dizzy again. 'Why won't this bug just leave me alone?' She stretched and winced when a few joints cracked and gently set herself back onto the couch.

Inuyasha woke to the sounds of popping joints. He turned his head and looked right into blue eyes. "How are you feeling today?" Reaching out a clawed hand to her forehead, he was relieved that it didn't feel nearly as hot as it had been last night. 'And her scent is almost back to normal too,' he mused as he took a deep breath.

Serena blushed. 'Is he…smelling me?' She blushed red and looked him in the eyes. "So, when are we going to the Feudal Era?"

Inuyasha flushed as well and tried to answer her questions, but began to sputter. "W-well, uh, I don't really know…Kagome should though, I'll go ask her!" He then shot up and zoomed up the stairs, leaving behind a very confused Serena.

"Was it something I said?"

--

Inuyasha was practically burning rubber by the time he reached Kagome's room. Slamming the door shut, he leaned against it and began heavily breathing. 'Holy crap, another minute out there and I would have turned red for life!' He sighed and was about to slump to the floor when Kagome hit him upside his head.

"What are you doing Inuyasha? You were running like Naraku was after you or something!" The girl had her hands on her hips as she waited for his answer. Her foot began tapping as the seconds dragged on. "Come on, I don't have all day…"

Inuyasha Keh-ed and crossed his arms. "When are we going back to the Feudal Era? Serena was asking this morning."

Kagome sat down in her desk chair and pulled out some homework. "Well, Serena needs to get better first; having her sick will make her even more vulnerable than she already is." She thoughtfully began tapping her pencil against the desk. "And she probably doesn't want to be spreading a plague in the Feudal Era, so she'll have to stay here until she's one hundred percent better." Who knew if the bug she had would be curable in the Feudal Era?

Inuyasha nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and she needs at least a little bit of her strength back for me to train her and all that…" Clawed hands scratched his head as he stood from his position against the dark haired girl's door. "So, in a few days I guess?"

Kagome shook her head. "It all depends on what kind of virus she has." She massaged her temples as she tried to think about the different strains of the virus. "It could only last for a few days, or it could last up to a week and a half; and she'd need more time to recover. The virus practically saps your strength because of the fighting your body is doing in an attempt to get rid of it."

"But we don't have a few days," the hanyou stormed. "We need to get the rest of the shards before Naraku does; we don't want him getting any stronger than he already is, right?" He began pacing and got faster and faster as he began yelling. "We don't know how many shards are out there, and we need to figure out a way to permanently kill him, unlike that time with Kaguya and all that crap!!"

Serena had stood and decided to take a shower when she heard Inuyasha shouting about how they didn't have a whole lot of time to get the rest of the jewel together. She frowned; if they needed to leave, why didn't they? She could wait. Pressing her ear to the door, she hoped to hear more on the topic they were talking about.

"And if that's not enough, what about Serena? She has no experience in fighting demons, and I'd have to train her everything I know!!"

She heard Kagome let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, it's not like she needed it here or anything, and don't you forget that when I popped out of the well, I didn't know how to fight demons either!"

"Keh, and look where that's gotten us. She doesn't know how to fight because she's been living like a lazy human for her whole life."

Kagome stiffened as did Serena on the other side of the door. "Lazy human huh? Well, let me tell you Inuyasha, that demons don't exactly pop out of nowhere demanding a fight these days, you know?"

Inuyasha paused in his battle with Kagome as his brain processed what he just said. 'Oh shoot…'

Shaking her head, Serena stormed into the bathroom. "It's not like I needed to protect myself from demons in this era," mumbled the female hanyou. "It's not like it was back then: wild forests, untamed wilderness." She turned the knob that would start the shower and waited for it to heat up. 'He has a lot of apologizing to do when I get out of here.' Tears burned her eyes and her chest tightened as she remembered her parents specifically telling her they would never train her.

"_We'll always be there for you darling, and we'll always protect you if we have to. In this day and age," he sat down at the edge of her bed after tucking her in, "there aren't many demons to fight anymore."_

Eyes finally let the tears spill over as she began showering, and she felt grateful for the hot searing water.

--

After her hot shower, Serena felt a little too hot, so she decided to step out into the cool and raining air of the morning. 'I also need to straighten some thoughts out.'

Would she really be that big of a burden to the others if she went back without knowing how to defend herself? She had a feeling she would be; even Kagome could defend herself with her arrows. Inuyasha would be busy looking after her and the same was most likely true with the demon slayer and monk.

Taking a deep breath to try and get rid of the stress in her body, she smelled something fishy. Before she even had time to begin thinking about what it was, a large scaly demon tackled her out of nowhere. Her eyes widened as she glanced over to the well. For some strange reason, it was glowing a dark black instead of the usual pink color Kagome had told her about the day before.

Her attention came back to the present when the thing snapped its jaws at her and barely missed her head. 'I need to get out of here! But Inuyasha won't be able to smell me in the heavy rain…' The earlier soft sprinkling had turned into a sudden monsoon, making Serena worry about fighting in the rain. She couldn't fight anyway, and it just had to be harder in the rain! Serena's mind raced to come up with a solution to her quickly growing problem. 'I need to get it away from the shrine! I can't fight, but I can't put the others in danger either! Oh, what am I going to do?'

She roughly pushed the demon away from her and took off into the forest located behind the shrine. 'I just hope they'll look there first,' was her scrambled thought as she ran for her life.

Branches snapped her bruised eye and created new cuts as she tore through the forest. Her ribs cried out in protest because they moved too much, and her head began to whirl as another bout of dizziness attacked her. 'Not good, I don't need this now!' She took a sharp left, but it wasn't sharp enough. The demon's claws sliced through her side as she tried to get away.

--

Inuyasha shot up from what he was doing. Something didn't feel right. First of all, Serena had been outside far too long (he smelled her trail to the door and outside), and his worry escalated when it began to rain heavily. "Kagome, do you know where Serena wandered off to?"

The schoolgirl hacking away at her huge pile of homework shook her head. "No, not really. Last I saw of her, she was outside."

Inuyasha began to pace. "But that was nearly a half hour ago."

Kagome halted her pencil and looked to Inuyasha. "Do you think something happened?" Worry began withering away at her as she tried to think of where the girl could have gone in this weather.

"I'm beginning to think that. Do you know where she might've gone?"

Kagome wracked her brain for an answer and came out victorious. "Yes, there's a little clearing in the woods behind our house she found one of the times she was here." She stood and grabbed a pair of rain boots and an umbrella.

"No," said Inuyasha as he headed to the window. "There's something big out there, I can feel it; I don't want you going out there and getting hurt, ok?" He hugged her and opened the window to the downpour. "I'll be back in a bit." And with that, he leapt out into the storm.

--

Serena tripped over a root as she raced away from the fangs of the demon and landed with a splat into a large puddle of mud. She slightly grimaced but was shocked back into reality when the thing roared. The noise grated across her sensitive ears as she started running again.

Before she could get too far however, it made a grab for her leg. Unfortunately for her, it didn't miss.

Her face once again slammed into the muddied ground as she struggled to get free and finally made a large sweeping motion with her claws. To her surprise, they glowed a bright yellow as blades of light swept over the demon. It let out a pained roar and backed away from her.

The young and battle inexperienced hanyou once again made a dash for it, but stopped when she heard the loud cries of "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"

Inuyasha had seen five yellow lines streak to the demon and immediately knew he'd found Serena. Letting loose his own glowing attack, he rushed in front of Serena. "You ok?" he tossed over his shoulder.

"Yeah," was the meek response.

His anger boiled. This thing would pay for scaring her like this!

He lowered his body into a fighting stance as he removed Tetsusaiga from its sheath. "Get ready to die, weakling! Wind Scar!!"

Serena looked up just in time to see the huge sword let out large lines of energy that left large scars in the ground as well as the demon. 'Wind Scar, dur,' she thought as she shook her head in stupidity. 'Shoulda seen that one coming.'

The demon was blown away and Inuyasha puffed his chest out in pride. 'See, I can take care of you.' He turned to the girl and finally got a good look at her. Blood was everywhere, as was mud, and he got a sinking feeling the blood was hers. "Hey, you ok?"

Serena nodded her stiff head. "Yeah, fine. I didn't get hurt too bad, it looks more serious than it is." Her heightened healing abilities began to work, and she was glad they decided to kick themselves into gear. It was the same with the glowing attack, which Inuyasha sad was "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer".

"It's an energy based attack that is one of the first ones I learned. It's good they showed up without your knowledge because that means you're really strong, so that's good. Calling out the attack makes it stronger, you see?"

Weakly nodding, she attempted to stand but slipped once more in the mud. 'And I just took a shower today too.'

Inuyasha grabbed her as she began to slip. "Let's get you inside and get some of those wounds looked at. Your healing ability is kinda slowed, but something tells me you've never been stabbed before, you know?"

"Yeah, demons don't pop out of the woodwork here Inuyasha."

"Yeah, that's kinda what Kagome just told me." Walking back to the house, he sighed. 'Might as well get this apology over with.' "And by the way, I smelled you outside her room, and I'm…sor-sorry for calling you weak. I've just had a hard time growing up."

She smiled as he stuttered over his apology, but accepted it. "Don't worry about it Inuyasha. Just as long as you've realized our mistake, it's ok." Pausing for a moment, she continued softly, "It's just that I never thought I would need to learn how to fight. My father had to fight when he was younger, and vowed I would never have to deal with that."

Inuyasha looked away, his white bangs covering his face. "I'm sorry about that."

Serena was surprised. Something told her that he didn't apologize much, but here he was, apologizing twice in less that a few minutes. 'Amazing,' she thought as her eyes began to close.

The half-demon saw her eyes flutter and hurried to the Higurashi house. "Hold on Serena, I'm gonna get you back to Kagome's, she'll heal you!" Fear streaked through his being as her eyes closed and her body relaxed, "Hey, stay awake!"

'She can't die, she can't!' Inuyasha cried out in relief when he saw the house in the distance. "Kagome! Serena's hurt; she needs help!"

Kagome heard Inuyasha cry out and pushed away from her chair. "She's hurt?" Scrambling over to the medical supply kit, she gathered plenty of healing droughts from the Feudal Era and bandages. The window slammed open before she could go downstairs and gasped when she saw that Inuyasha's fire rat robe was a deep red, and Serena's clothes were the same color. "What happened?!" she yelped as she took a knee at her bedside, where Inuyasha had set the bleeding girl.

"A demon got to her," was the grim response. "I felt something was wrong, but I didn't think it would be this bad."

"Guys, if demons heal as fast as you say, I'm not in any serious trouble here." That didn't mean it didn't hurt, though. It felt like a million needles stabbing into her side whenever she breathed, and since breathing was essential to life, pain flared every second.

Inuyasha watched the girl tense and wince in pain every time she breathed, and rather bluntly pointed it out. "Well, if you say that, then why are you so tense? And why do you twitch when you breathe?" Testing another point, he inched his hand closer to her wound and watched her tense up even more. "And when I get too close, you try to inch away. You're like a dog nursing a bad leg."

Silence…

"Ok, the joke was bad, but don't ever say I didn't try, ok!" Crossing his arms into his haori, Inuyasha turned to sulk in the corner, ears twitching madly in an attempt to stay in the conversation.

Shaking her head as Inuyasha's tactlessness, Kagome turned back to Serena, wincing herself at the rather large gash. "The best I can do is bandage it up, and hopefully since your attacks have kicked in, your healing has too. If you don't get better, we might have to take you to the hospital."

Nodding grimly as Kagome readied her medical supplies, she thought about what that might mean. The doctors might find out about her, and who knows, they might start looking for others like her, too. "That's a last resort, Kagome. I would rather go to the Feudal Era first."

--

Hours later, Kagome looked at Serena's wound. Lifting away the bloodied bandages, she was pleased to find the wound completely gone. "Your healings up to par, I'd say."

"Keh, it's not up to…whatever until I say it is," griped Inuyasha as he turned away from his corner. "She shoulda been healed a long time ago." Seeing the angry look on Kagome's face, he prattled on before she could sit him, "But you're doing a lot better."

In addition, the smile on Serena's face was much more rewarding than the angry frown creasing her face as he pushed her spirits down.

"That's a relief," she sighed as she fell into the large pillows at her back. Moving her eyes from Inuyasha to Kagome, she took a breath before breaking some pressing news. "Well, I have to turn in my uniform and books, as you know."

Both figures by the side of the bed merely blinked in response.

"Which means I'll be going up to school to personally give them back."

That got a better reaction.

"Serena, that's not a smart idea!"

"No way, wench!"

Brushing off Inuyasha's remark, she turned to Kagome. "But I have to; I also have to give him this note that says your mom'll be home schooling me." She flapped a piece of paper in her best friend's face, causing the girl to snatch it and read it.

"You're not going up there alone," the dog demon gruffed. 'If she got into a fight last time without doing anything, what will people think if she's…dropping out?' He really still didn't understand what that meant, but if Kagome said it was a bad thing, he believed it.

"Oh so what, are you going to come with me?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Serena wanted to take them back oh so very badly. The evil glint that spread across the inu-hanyou's face was pure evil. There was no doubt in her mind that he was thinking about what Chad did to her. "No, Inuyasha-"

Arms crossed again as per usual, he glared. "I don't want you getting hurt again. If you're going to be turning in your stuff, I'm coming with you." In a silent plea, he brought his amber eyes to hers. 'Let me protect you this time.'

Those amber eyes could make her do anything. Just looking into their mysterious depths for a half second made her melt. 'Besides, he's trying to be sweet. I probably won't see that side of him in the Warring States Era.' No doubt he would be a tough guy on the other side of the well, trying to prove he was just as rough and tumble as any full blooded demon out there. Burying her face in her hands, she uttered the words that would become her undoing. "Fine, you can come, BUT."

Inuyasha stopped his premature party dance back turned to her, but ears perked.

"Behave yourself, and don't beat on Chad, ok?" If memory served her right, which she was sure it did, then Chad had also been the one to bruise her ribs. 'No need to tell him that though, or else Chad might not make it to graduation…not that he will anyway, with his grades…'

"But, but he hurt you! I want to teach him he can't ever touch you again!" He paused then, mulling over what he said, and turned a bright red when it registered. "What I mean is, I want him to know when he messes with you, he messes with me."

Kagome held in a dreamy sigh. 'I would die for a guy like that!' Her thoughts strayed to a certain raven-haired wolf, coming back to the real world only when Serena waved a hand in front of her face. Behind her, Inuyasha curiously looked at the girl. "What?"

"Nothing Kagome; you just spaced out for a bit there…and your scent changed."

The schoolgirl flushed and spluttered. "Oh great, now there's two of you with sensitive noses!"

Serena and Inuyasha exchanged glances, smiling. "Not our fault," replied Inuyasha. Turing back to Serena, he asked, "So what time are we leaving tomorrow?"

"At seven o'clock sharp, and be sure to dress in your human clothes, ok? A baseball cap with your haori isn't going to cut it." Seemingly out of no where, she showed the two friends a button up shirt, complete with tie, and tight legged jeans.

Kagome squealed in excitement and Inuyasha groaned slightly. The pants and shirt looked a little tight.

--

The next morning, Serena came downstairs at fifteen to seven, not shocked in the slightest that Inuyasha was already at the kitchen table with a bowl of instant ramen. She giggled as she watched him wolf it down, shaking her head when he asked for another.

"Don't pig out too much Inuyasha, it wouldn't do for my protector to be chubby, huh?" Taking firm grip of his cheek, making sure he didn't have any ramen in his mouth, she gave it a good pinch.

Inuyasha's hand flew to his cheek after she released it, giving her a soft glare. "Ow," he muttered softly, "that kinda hurt." Rubbing it for a while, he walked to the mirror to find a red spot on his cheek.

"Oh don't whine so much, Inu, it won't even be there that long before your healing kicks in." Seating herself at the table, she glanced at his back, appreciating how the jeans fit. Shaking her head, she looked at the whole outfit.

The black shirt fit him snugly, she noted with a smile, as did his jeans. Her eyes wandered to his feet and she smiled, seeing as he was wearing the black slip-ons without complaint. Looking back to his head, she saw the black fedora perched over his ears. "Looking good Inuyasha."

"Yeah well, don't get used to it." He tried pulling at the tight clothes and gave a soft whine when they didn't budge. "I admit I like the hat better though." Pulling at the tie, he wondered how Serena tied it last night.

As Serena began eating, she noticed how Inuyasha had a little bit of trouble tying the tie. Shoving as many cornflakes as she could in to her mouth, she stood and made her way over to him. Gently slapping his hands out of the way, she looped the tie around his neck and began the intricate knot.

Inuyasha was surprised when she made her way over to him, but was even more shocked when she came to stand almost on top of him in an attempt to tie his tie for him. Looking at her face, he admitted rather grudgingly to himself she did look cute…even if her cheeks made her look like a chipmunk. He flushed as she tied to knot tight, adjusted it, then loosened it a little. By now, she was done chewing.

"Just thought I'd give you some breathing room," she explained as she played with the loose tie. Sitting back down, she went back to her breakfast.

'Does she even know what she just did?' the blushing hanyou asked himself. She got him to blush! Not many people he knew could do that, and Serena just added herself to the top of his list. Loosening the tie a little more, he sighed as he mentally prepared himself for battle…at Serena's and Kagome's skool, er, school.

--

Serena stopped just in front of the door, gulping.

"Oh come on Serena, you're only stepping outside."

The female hanyou glared at Souta. "Yeah, but still…it's kind of the 'end of the beginning', you know?" Nervously blinking, she stepped outside, Inuyasha hot on her heels.

Souta gagged as he took in the sight of his two favorite hanyous. They were…matching!

Serena wore a pair of tight jeans similar to Inuyasha, and the color of her shirt matched his, even if it was a frilly blouse. The French beret perched on her head contrasted greatly with her silver half-braided hair, as did Inuyasha's black fedora.

"Oh hush, Souta," scolded Kagome as she shoved her brother back inside. "You still have to get ready for school. You leave in half an hour." Turning to her friends, she smiled. "Oh, you look so cute together!" Her camera appeared out of nowhere, the bright flash signaling the two half demons she took a photo.

"I look kinda wimpy if you ask me," Inuyasha muttered out of the corner of his mouth, glaring at Kagome.

Propping her hat a little, Serena looked at him out of the corer of her eye. "No, I think you look very…irresistible," she said after a brief pause. Many words ran through her mind, but she didn't think he would appreciate it if she said he looked magnificent, or beautiful…those were girly words, he would say.

The hanyou knew what that meant! Blushing wildly to the roots of his hair, he followed after the girl who got a head start thanks to his stunned reaction.

It didn't take him long to catch up, but hen he did, he noticed her having a little trouble with carrying her things. "Hey, want me to take your books?" He noted the tiny smile on her face as she handed them to him. "What's that smile for?"

"Well, it's always an old fashioned thing for a guy to carry a girl's books…I think it's sweet." She turned back around, now only her uniform in her hands.

'Humans are so weird,' Inuyasha thought as he trotted to keep up.

--

Once again, Serena was standing in front of a door.

Only this time, she had to muster the courage to go in.

'Come on Serena, it's not like it's a demon or anything,' she tried to convince herself. But if it wasn't a demon, why was her heart pounding a million miles a minute in her chest; why were her palms sweating?

Just as she thought she was going to faint, a strong arm rested around her shoulders. Attached to that arm was Inuyasha. "Don't worry; I'll protect you." He waited for her to nod, and with her word, he opened the doors and led her inside, acting as cool and as human as possible.

Serena mentally laughed when he let a permanent smirk grace his face, and smiled even more when he slouched the tiniest bit like boys from her time were prone to do. He had one arm around her shoulder and carried the five books in the other with ease, earning appreciative stares from the girls and glares from the guys.

'That's right,' Inuyasha thought, 'Eat your heart out…or whatever that means.' He'd heard that from Kagome once…oh well.

As the pair walked down the hall, they got both glares of jealousy and appreciative looks from both genders, and Serena couldn't help the smug grin that curved her lips. And these were the guys that said she wasn't very pretty behind her back!

Of course, Inuyasha sent them frigid death glares, scoffing at how picky human males cloud be. 'So one minute they're afraid of her, and the next they want to…go out with her? Keh, stupid humans.' He tightened his arm around her shoulders, looping it around her neck, and walked on.

They were almost to the principal's office when they were stopped by a group of jocks in front of the gym. "Hold up, Chad needs to get out of there first."

'You just signed his death certificate,' thought Serena, nervous butterflies doing loops in her stomach as she heard her protector growl. She had to keep him calm; she and Kagome didn't think it would look too good if a kid came into school -an unregistered one, at that- with a sword strapped to his side, so they left it at home.

Inuyasha's low growling was only loud enough for Serena to hear, but if he wasn't careful, it could quickly escalate, bringing his eyes to red and letting lose his inner demon. 'That's not an option; I need to play it cool.' Taking a deep mental breath, he smoothly said, "And why do we need to do that?"

The jock glared at him, about to ask if he knew who Chad was. As his eyes took in the person who would dare speak out, he noticed he wasn't wearing the uniform. "And just who are you to speak about Chad like that? You don't even know him."

"And I'm glad I don't," Inuyasha shot back. "I would hate to know the person who gave my girlfriend a black eye not too long ago."

All at once, a huge cacophony of groans were heard, sadly hearing the news that the beautiful girl, or boy, was taken.

After the noise died down, Inuyasha pushed Serena behind him with his hand firmly latched to hers and tried pushing through the sea of athletic boys. But they didn't budge. Inuyasha was about to start yelling when a boy stepped out of the gymnasium, wearing an arrogant smile, meeting Serena's eyes.

"Oh look who it is, the freak. Dressing up won't change that fact, sweetie." He roared in laughter, and it made Inuyasha seethe when the other guys joined in, making Serena's face flush in embarrassed anger.

"Hey, don't talk about my girlfriend that way." Inuyasha was trying very hard to stay 'in character' as the 'cool emo guy' Kagome told him about last night after Serena fell asleep. He was trying, but if the guy said one thing more about Serena, he swore he'd lose his temper.

"Ah, look guys, it's one of those 'emos'! He's probably just a little light in his loafers!" The team roared in laughter again, making Serena angrily step forward, wrenching her hand from Inuyasha's.

"Shut up, all of you! You're just jealous because he can be tough and good looking!"

"What was that?!" Chad took a menacing step forward, and rearing his fist back, made a bee-line for her face.

It never hit its mark.

Inuyasha, fast as lightning, caught the fist in his hand, glaring at the boy who would dare hurt a potential mate of his. His eyes formed into slits as he took calming breaths, trying without much success to keep his temper under control. It slipped just the littlest bit however, when Chad tried to hit Inuyasha with his other hand. Dodging that one, his fist flew into his eye, the same side Serena had her bruise on.

"Augh, my eye! You'll pay for that!" Chad lunged forward, fists flying everywhere in random directions. Inuyasha merely raised an eyebrow as he easily dodged each one of them. "Stand still, will you?!"

"I'm a black belt," Inuyasha bragged, "you won't be able to hit me even if I WAS standing still." Chad let anger get the best of him as he made another wild swing.

By now, a large crowd had gathered, it almost being time for class to start. As such, it also attracted teachers.

"Hey now, get to class, all of you! Chad!" One of the teachers stepped away from the large group heading their way, glaring at the athletic student. The teacher who was making her way into the fray was Miss Imuto, his English teacher. She was one of the few who didn't tolerate his high-and-mighty attitude. "What is going on?" Taking careful note of the student who had his hand in a lock, she looked to the newcomer. "Mind telling us what's going on?"

Serena stepped forward, "Miss Imuto, I was just trying to turn in my uniform and books when the jocks stopped my boyfriend and I in our paths, saying we couldn't pass until Chad came out." Getting an approving nod from her teacher, she continued. "Then Chad came out, and said some…less than kind things to me and Inuyasha. After that, he got angry and tried to hit me. Whatever Inuyasha did was in self-defense only!"

The crowd murmured in agreement before being shooed away, grumbling about tests, feet shuffling. They wanted to find out what would happen to their all-star kendo student!

"Chad, come with me to the principal's office. You two," she waved to Serena and Inuyasha, "Go on and turn her stuff in, you're not in any trouble."

Visibly sighing in relief, Serena threaded her arm through Inuyasha's, calming him down, as she dragged him to the principal's office as Chad got a scolding.

Turning the corner, Serena leapt into Inuyasha's arms, giving him a kiss on his cheek. "Oh Inuyasha, that was so brave!" She let out a squeal as she hugged him again. "No one's ever stood up for me like that before." Pulling away, she looked into his stunned eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Aw, it was nothing," replied the bashful inu. He was just doing what he said he would after all; Inuyasha told her that.

"I know, but it was still incredibly sweet of you." Returning to her slow walk with her arm threaded through his, she started thinking to herself. 'I think…I may be falling in love with him.'

--

Well, there it is, another chapter! I hoped you guys liked it, please read and review!

-MoonFace01


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, I'm on an updating spree!!!! Woohoo, I'm on a roll and it feels awesome! I feel so accomplished. Anyway, this is going to be the last chapter of The Second HalfDemon. See the authors note at the bottom for more info!

I want to thank everyone who's supported me through this story, even tho it's kinda wimpy, but for my first finished multi-chapter I think it's pretty good. So thanks to MoonBunny777, iamkagomeiloveinuyasha, Firehedgehog, mystic soldier, and sangoscourage! You guys got me a lot of great feedback and encouragement, so thanks!

And now, to conclude The Second HalfDemon!!!

Ch 5

Serena and Inuyasha had no further problems with returning her stuff. The teachers were quite supportive of her as well; everyone was always picking on her, so the teachers thought it was best that she be put at home where she could concentrate on her learning rather than dodging fists and insults.

"That went rather well," Serena remarked as she walked out of the school, her arm looped through Inuyasha's, looking rather confused.

"For all the fuss Kagome said they'd cause, that was a little disappointing."

Turning in shock to her 'boyfriend', Serena glared at him, "So you'd rather they yell at me for making the mistake of dropping out?" Wrenching her arm away from his, she began storming away, leaving Inuyasha stunned in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Why is it when I talk to her everything always comes out wrong?"

---

Arriving back at the house, Serena tossed her beret on the couch and made her way to the kitchen, suddenly itching for some ramen. "Great," she muttered as she hated water in the microwave, "now I'm developing his eating habits. What next, his tact?"

She was slamming around so much in the kitchen she didn't even hear Inuyasha come in. He walked into the kitchen to find her finishing a bowl of ramen. "Serena?" Trying to walk up behind her, he growled in frustration as she danced away. She did this many times before he finally used his speed to catch her in his arms. "Would you just stop for a second?! I'm trying to apologize, ok?"

That put her into shock. He apologized for something just the day before and now he was saying he was sorry for something else? 'I'm really gonna miss this side of him.' Turning in his arms, she looked him in the eye.

As she looked at him, he realized that was his cue. "Well, I didn't mean disappointment, I meant to say…ugh, what was that word Kagome used? Anti-climactic?"

Serena decided in that instant, Inuyasha looked like an average boy apologizing to his average girlfriend. His face was scrunched up as he rubbed the bottom of his chin in concentration. The black fedora still sat on his head, though it twitched every now and again, no doubt his ears flicking back and forth in nervous anticipation. When he nodded and started talking again, she blinked.

"So, what I guess I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry, again. Sometimes I just don't know what I'm saying until it's already come out and I can't take it back." Inuyasha scratched his head in embarrassment, but was quite shocked to have her leap into his arms again.

"Thank you, Inuyasha. I guess I just took it out of context." Standing on the tips of her toes, she gave him a small kiss to his lips.

Inuyasha felt himself blush when Serena's face came closer to his, and his cheeks outright burst into flame when she kissed him. He didn't even get the chance to think about responding when she pulled away, smiling, before she took off upstairs.

His clawed hand gently touched his lips, smiling. This feeling, it was different from what he felt when he was with Kikyo. He always had to be on edge with her, act perfect, but with Serena…oh with Serena, he could be himself, and she loved him for it.

Or at least he thought she did.

He was almost positive.

…gosh, he sure hoped so!

"So Inuyasha, when are we going to the Feudal Era?" Serena took her hair out of her braid, massaging her scalp. Even if her hair was only braided for the short time it took to go to school and drop all her stuff off, it managed to give her a headache.

Inuyasha saw her rubbing her head, eyes clenched in pain. "What's wrong?" He sat down on the couch and pulled her next to him, cocking his head in confusion.

Shaking her head slowly as to not aggravate her ache, she replied, "It's nothing, I just braided my hair too tight. It pulls on my scalp and gives me a headache sometimes."

A laugh forced its way out of his throat, making her glare. "What? If your too tight hair brothers you, what's going to happen when a demon stabs you or something? You'll probably faint from shock."

Sending another glare his way, she shook her head. "You're such a moron, Inuyasha, seriously. I'm sorry if I'm not strong enough, but we've been through this already." Standing from the couch and grabbing some pain medicine, she stomped up the stairs, Inuyasha hitting himself again. 'Déjà vu,' he thought as he flopped back onto the couch.

---

Kagome came home shortly after five o'clock that day to find Inuyasha on the couch, staring at the ceiling. "Hey Inuyasha, where's Serena?" She watched her friend face her, twitching nervously.

"Well ah, you see…I called her weak again- only kinda!" He waved his arms in front of his face as he tried to explain, not wanting that magical word to fly out of her mouth. "I made a comment about her getting a headache because she braided her hair too tight!" Flopping down on the couch and acting rather unlike himself, he sighed. "Why is it when I talk to her my words never come out right?"

Kagome shook her head, straining to keep a giggle in her throat. 'Aw, he's so cute when it comes to her. I wonder if he'll ever be able to talk to her.' Coming to stand beside him, she pushed him up from the couch. "Have you tried apologizing?"

Inuyasha felt a nervous itch at the back of his head. "Uh…no? I didn't think she wanted me to bother her, so I left her upstairs to think for a while. I don't want her to get any madder at me than she is already."

Nodding in understanding, Kagome made her way upstairs. "I'll talk to her. In the meantime, you need to come up with yet another apology. I swear Inuyasha, this is what, the fifth time?"

"Fourth, second time today, though," he replied, crossing his arms and sitting Indian style in the floor in his customary pouting pose, eyes shut. His sensitive ears twitched as they heard Kagome make her way upstairs, and he strained hard to listen to any conversation coming from the girl's room, cracking an eye open as if it would help.

In the room, Kagome hugged Serna. "Serena, what's wrong?"

Without preamble, Serena whirled to Kagome, almost yelling, "Why does he always act like that?"

Kagome smiled and shook her head. In the time she'd gotten to known Inuyasha, she knew what made him tick. "He's not good at letting other people know his feelings, Serena; it's just how he is."

Wiping tears from her face, Serena sighed in frustration. "But how can he be so cruel one second and so nice in the next?" Her voice started harsh, but ended softly as she hugged her arms around her body, remembering how the half demon had acted within the past few days.

Shaking her head in pity, Kagome sat down next to her. "I know; he does that sometimes. In the warring states era, he has to be a tough guy, strong. Here, he can shed that image and be who he wants to be, who he is." Grabbing the tissue box on her nightstand in a swift motion, she handed Serena a pink flowered tissue. "He wants to prove he can be as tough as any demon because they shun him, and he wants to prove he can be as loving as any human because they shun him too."

"But why doesn't he see he doesn't have to do that?" Serena blew her nose with the pink tissue, smiling slightly. Her parents had the same kind before they died…Shaking her head, she flopped onto the bed. "I like him the way he is; he doesn't have to change that!"

"I've been trying to tell him that for years," explained Kagome, memories flitting through her mind. "He knows it, I've told him enough times…but he still wants to make everyone happy, make everyone see him the way we see him."

"He doesn't need to!" Tearing the ring from her finger, she threw it to the bed, letting her hanyou features rush over her body. "He doesn't need to…" She curled in a ball and cried into Kagome's shoulder when the other girl lifted her up into her arms. "We care for him, I care for him…shouldn't that be enough?"

A few hours later, Serena had finally fallen asleep and Kagome left the room, angry at one Inuyasha. 'It's not his fault he's like this, it's how he grew up,' she told herself, but she was just so angry that he couldn't see what everyone saw…

With a long sigh, she walked down the stairs and into the living room where she saw Inuyasha sitting on the couch, his ears flicked back onto his head, whimpering softly.

He'd heard the entire thing.

It hadn't been hard, not with his hearing. She was shouting, and if Souta, Mrs. Higurashi, or if the old man was home, they probably would've heard it too.

Inuyasha hated seeing his mate in pain…

During the whole ordeal, he'd been shedding tears of his own, and he was happy no one was around to see him. He'd never hear the end of it.

'My mate,' he asked himself, 'since when was she my mate?'

'_Since the first time you visited her, the first time you saw her cry.'_

He knew it was true. Ever since he saw her crying he knew he had to protect her from whatever came her way…he couldn't stand seeing her in pain.

"Inuyasha?"

His ears came back to life again as he heard Kagome call his name, twitching back and forth. "Yeah?" The voice that came from his mouth made him wince; it was gruff and choked. He didn't want Kagome to know he'd been-

"Have you been crying, Inuyasha?"

Hunching his shoulders even more as if to protect himself, he let out a rough "Keh." Showing emotions was weak, and Inuyasha was. Not. Weak. "No, stupid wench," he grumbled as he wiped his face on his haori sleeve, "I got something in my eye."

"Suuuure you did," Kagome replied, unbelieving as she sat next to him, peering into his face through his white hair at his golden eyes. "You worried her, you know."

"So she's not mad at me?" The white little ears on top of his head perked straight up as he eagerly awaited her answer. 'Please let her say no,' he thought.

Kagome shook her head as she leaned back into the couch. "No, she's not mad, she just wonders why you can't accept yourself as who you are. She likes you as a half-demon, like I and the others do. I wouldn't be surprised if she _loved_ you for who you are."

Shaking his head sadly was all Inuyasha could muster right now; feeling emotions was tiring. "She can do so much better."

"But she doesn't want better, she wants you." Kagome sat on the couch and looked at the top on Inuyasha's head as he leaned back against the couch as he sat on the floor.

"Did she tell you that or are you just telling me to make me feel better?"

Kagome sighed in frustration. "She doesn't need to tell me, it's all over her face and it's in her body language; she really cares for you, Inuyasha, and like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if she loved you."

He turned to face her, still on the floor. "I can't get rid of her, can I? I'm stuck with her." A smile crossed his face as he said this; he wouldn't mind it if she was permanently glued to his side for the rest of his life, and it made him happy.

The two sat in a comfortable silence before Kagome shifted. "Well, we're heading to the Feudal Era soon, so get some rest. If you go back to your usual non-sleep pattern, you'll need it."

---

The weeks passed quickly as Serena learned all of what was to know about being a hanyou. Inuyasha taught her the attacks he knew, told her demon lore, and even touched on what little he knew of demon traditions. Sesshomaru would have known more, but Inuyasha wasn't about to walk up to him and hold any kind of civil conversation…if the two brothers even got past a 'hello'.

Serena also taught him some things, namely school lessons she was getting from Kagome's mother. 'Stupid school,' Serena remembered Inuyasha saying, 'why would I need to know how fast it would take this train or whatever to get somewhere? What's a train anyway?'

He flushed in embarrassment at that memory, but then another memory came to mind.

--(Flashback)--

Inuyasha watched in slight amusement as Serena twitched nervously. Today he was teaching her how to dodge attacks from an enemy who was weaponless.

"Ok, so, I'm just going to attack and see what you got." Seeing her nervously jerk her head up and down in a nod, he attacked full speed. Seconds later, he had her in his grip, his left arm wrapped around her waist and his right around her neck. "I thought you'd at least fight back," he muttered in disappointment.

But then he got a good look at her.

Normally silver hair was now a striking gold, slightly longer than her usual length of hair. Pressing his nose at the crook of her neck and shoulder, he took a deep breath and glared at the back of her head. "Why didn't you tell me tonight was your human night?!"

Serena winced as Inuyasha yelled into her now human ear and gasped in slight fright as he spun her around to face him. Her slightly darker blue eyes narrowed, mimicking Inuyasha's own amber gaze. "Because," she said calmly and quietly back, "I want to learn how to defend myself on my human night, too."

A low growl rose from Inuyasha's throat, making Serena jump back in fear. Now what had she done?

"So you think I can't protect you?" The full moon bore down on the two hanyous as Inuyasha stepped away from Serena. Instinctively, he grabbed at his sword as he felt his control waver just the slightest bit. 'Of course,' he thought bitterly to himself, 'why else would the wench want to learn?'

He heard her sigh from her position just behind him. "No, I just don't want to burden you or the others on my human night; I want to be able to take care of myself. I feel useless being this weak." She gazed angrily down at the clawless hands of her human self. 'These are the hands that can't do anything.'

Her mind flashed back to another night, just like this one, with a full moon in the sky. Clenching her hands together in anger, she berated herself for thinking about things in the past.

Inuyasha watched in slight alarm as her eyes darkened, little drops of blood dripping from her clenched hands. His fears were put to rest slightly as she unfisted her hands, eyes returning to normal. "Serena? Are you ok?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just remembering…" Flinching and grabbing her head, she let out a soft whine as ghostly images of her dead mother and father flashed in her mind's eye, hearing their cries and the evil laughter of the man who killed them.

As he watched the young woman suffer, he felt himself walking forward, wishing to comfort his mate. Only hesitating a second, he wrapped her in his arms and stroked her hair, growling low in his throat in an effort to comfort her and drown out her sobs.

--(End Flashback)--

From then on, Inuyasha treated the girl next to him as a mate. He hadn't formally marked her yet; he wanted Naraku to perish and the jewel to be completed before he did that. He slapped himself upside the head, 'But that could take forever.' But he stuck by his promise to himself.

"Ok," said Kagome, breaking him from his thoughts, "I'm going to jump in first. Inuyasha," his ears perked in response as she hefted her bag onto her back, "you'll be jumping with her. I don't know what will happen if she jumps by herself."

Nodding in reply, he watched as Kagome jumped into the well, disappearing. Turning to Serena, he gently grabbed her hand and leapt onto the well, pulling her forward when she didn't move. "Come on."

Serena allowed herself to be pulled up on the lip of the well, and the two of them balanced there for quite some time, until Inuyasha pulled her hand. "Ready?"

Steeling herself, Serena nodded once, a blush covering her face as Inuyasha grabbed her about the waist before yanking her into the well.

Pink light surrounded her body as the bottom of the well faded away into inky blackness. It felt like she was floating in space; not that she'd ever done it, but she'd read enough about it to know…or at least she thought.

"Kinda pretty isn't it?" interrupted her random thought process. Looking to Inuyasha, she had to agree. The way the lights were reflecting off his eyes didn't look half bad either. Flushing and turning away, she let her mind think about other things.

Inuyasha felt a smile tug at his lips before he replaced it with a harsh scowl. Shaking the rest of the left over emotions from his body, he picked Serena up after they landed and jumped out of the well, glaring at the small welcome party.

The gentle glow in Serena's eyes faded as Inuyasha harshly pulled away. "I'll be patrolling the area," he said roughly before taking off.

Kagome glared at his retreating back. Patrolling? Since when did Inuyasha start taking after Sesshomaru? Letting the frown morph into a smile, she turned to Serena and lead her towards the small group at the edge of the clearing. "Well Serena," she murmured as she pulled her into a hug, "this is the Sengoku Jidai."

Serena finally snapped from her daze to scan the area.

Large trees stretched upward to a blue sky dotted with white fluffy clouds. The grass at her feet swayed lazily in a gentle breeze, attempting to tickle her through her loose jeans. "It's beautiful," she breathed, smiling at the scent of the air. It was so clean! She tugged on her mint green hooded t-shirt as she caught the scents of the people at the edge of the clearing when the wind shifted. In slight nervousness, she looked to Kagome.

The other girl yelped, "Oh I'm so sorry! I haven't introduced you to the others yet!" Rushing to the woman in the group, Kagome pulled her over. "This is Sango, she's a demon slayer."

Serena studied the woman with keen eyes, noting she wore the traditional demon slyer uniform Inuyasha told her about. Pink armor covered a tight black bodysuit, a boomerang strapped to her back and a katana hanging at her side. Sango's brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and it bounced at the woman shook her hand. "Nice to meet you…" she trailed off, not knowing her name.

Smiling and shaking her hand back, she replied, "My name's Serena. Pleased to meet you, Sango." Her hand was suddenly snatched away as she was bowled over by the small kitsune demon that had previously been on the man's shoulder.

"My name's Shippo!" he cried in excitement. Hugging her around her neck, he took a whiff of her scent, thinking it was somehow familiar. "Hey, you smell like Inuyasha. Are you a half demon like him?"

Letting a laugh pass her lips, she nodded as she removed the ring from her hand. The features quickly washed over her, and the kit smiled. "That's so cool! How'd you do that?"

"It's a spell," she replied easily as she slipped the ring in the front pocket of her jeans. "I come from the future, like Kagome." Sitting up, she let him scramble from her waist to the forest floor. "Demons are in hiding in the future, so my parents made this ring so my-"

Her explanation was cut off mid-way as the man in purple and black robes approached her, taking hold of her hands in his. "Oh beautiful maiden," she blanched, "would you do me the honor of bearing my child?"

Before she could even think about slapping him, Sango hefted the boomerang from her back and slammed Miroku over the head with it, shouting, "Miroku, you lecher!"

The newly dubbed Miroku twitched on the ground, "Sango, you know I ask that question to every lovely maiden I cross paths with." Sitting up, he rubbed the back of his head, groaning.

'Wow, how did she do that?' Sango was deeply in conversation with Kagome as Miroku tried to feel her up; how had the taijiya reacted so quickly?

Sango caught Serena's awed stare and figured she should explain herself. "I have a lecher sense," she said as she tapped her temple. "I've been traveling with him for far too long to not know when he's up to his tricks."

Clearing her throat, Kagome stepped carefully over Miroku. The man may be down, but he wasn't out for the count. "Come on," she grabbed hold of Sango's and Serena's arms, "let's get back to the village." Briefly, Kagome glanced back in to the trees of Inuyasha's forest and caught a flash of silver and red. 'I wonder why Inuyasha took off?'

---

Kagome had great difficulty falling asleep. She rolled onto her back, twisting slightly in her sleeping bag, looking to the ceiling of Kaede's small hut.

Inuyasha hadn't shown up for diner that night.

In fact, no one had seen hide nor hair of the hanyou since he had come through the well so many hours ago. He sat Serena on her feet and left, giving them some nonsense excuse. 'Patroling, pah!' Kagome scoffed, rolling onto her stomach, folding her hands and placing her chin on them. 'What a lame excuse. Since when did he turn into Sesshomaru?'

Making up her mind, she threw the bright yellow camping bed to the side, wincing when the zipper clacked harshly against the wooden floor. She sat perfectly still for some time and eventually sighed in relief when she realized everyone was still asleep. Rising from the floor, she pushed aside the small mat over the door and came face to face with none other than- "Inuyasha! Where have you been?" she hissed. "We were worried about you!"

The hanyou's only response was his patented "Keh!" as he claimed a corner of the hut…the corner that was right next to Serena, Kagome noticed.

Kagome decided to try a new tactic. "Inuyasha, Serena was worried sick about you, and I bet if she had a tail it would have been in between her legs all night!"

Turning his gaze from the hanyou in question, he frowned. "Why?"

The girl from the future shook her head. Seriously, Inuyasha could be so dense sometimes. "Because she thinks you're angry with her."

"Why does she think that?" Inuyasha asked as he crossed his arms. Keh, stupid girl."

By now, the thin string that was Kagome's patience snapped. Leaping to his side, she firmly grabbed both forelocks of his white hair in her right hand, using her left to push the small door to the small hut aside as she dragged him outside.

In the meantime, Inuyasha was having trouble keeping his mouth shut as he hunkered down to match Kagome's slightly shorter height. What the hell was Kagome doing, just grabbing him like that?! When he finally deemed them far enough away from the village, he pulled free, his temper flaring. "What the hell was that for?!"

"SIT!" Since Kagome hadn't found a new string for her patience, she was still fresh out. "Serena cares for you Inuyasha! Did you even tell her you would have to act differently once you got here?"

Inuyasha flattened his ears to his skull as he looked away. "Why should I have to?"

Kagome let out a sigh of frustration, stomping her foot to the ground. "Because she's punishing herself for something you did! And why did you run off once you got here, huh? Sesshomaru patrols, not you!"

He let out a small growl at his half-brother's name. "So what? You're always telling me to keep and eye and ear out for trouble."

A frustrated shriek came out of Kagome's mouth this time. "That's not good enough! Serena was depressed all day today because you left; you didn't even come to dinner!"

"I didn't want to see Miroku hitting on her, ok?! I probably would've seriously hurt him, if not killed him, for touching what is mine!" As he yelled, his usually warm amber eyes started to bleed red.

Kagome blinked in surprise as she took a step back. 'Serena never told me this,' she thought as she watched Inuyasha shake his head. Maybe Inuyasha's inner demon had subconsciously made the decision for him, and he wasn't comfortable with the idea, or the fact that he didn't have a say. "When did this happen?"

Inuyasha sat in his customary position, hands folded into his hakama, telling Kagome to sit with his eyes. "I knew I started…having feelings for her when I first saw her," he replied grudgingly. He never was one to tell others how he felt. "They kept growing and then my inner beast got involved, and you know how protective and possessive that we can be."

That she did!

Softly now, he continued as he stood. "I just don't know what to do. I mean, I don't want this to turn out like my last relationships did." He felt bad that Kikyo died because of him and that he made Kagome miserable for the first year and a half she'd been there. In a moment of inspiration, he apologized to her. "I'm sorry for what I out you through."

She smiled when his hand squeezed hers and shook her head. "It's ok. We're friends now, right? That's all that matters." Kagome pulled him into a half hug. "Now you just need to tell Serena you're sorry and how you feel."

Kagome barely had her hands against him to start pushing him back to the hut when he shot away from her faster than Miroku when he was being chased by a certain boomerang wielding taijiya. "Are you nuts? No way!" Crossing his arms, he sent Kagome an angry glare for her even suggesting it. "There's no way I'm doing that!"

She kept a firm glare on him as she came to stand next to him. "Don't push her away, Inuyasha. This time is unpredictable, and I know you'll regret it for the rest of your life if something were to happen to her before you tell her how you feel. If you don't mind," she turned back towards the village and started walking, "I'm going to get some rest before tomorrow and remember." Stopping and turning her head slightly, she said in a low voice, "You don't want to repeat past mistakes."

Inuyasha felt his blood freeze in his veins as he watched Kagome walk away. In the past he hadn't trusted Kikyo, he hadn't told her he loved her…and look where it got them. She had died and he had been sealed to a tree for fifty years.

All because he pushed her away.

Kagome smirked as she left him in the clearing. 'I've done some nice work,' she thought as she mentally pat herself on her back. Her smile grew wider as a red and silver streak sped by, hearing a "thank you" in its wake.

Nice work, indeed.

---

Inuyasha paced outside the hut, taking a deep breath. 'I can do this,' he told himself mentally. 'The worst she can do is totally reject you – UGH, think positive thoughts!' He slammed his head onto the hut and shook it, staying outside as he let the bruise fade away. How embarrassing would it be if she saw it?

"Quit stalling!"

He whirled around, surprised to hear Kagome come up behind him. She'd snuck up on him because he was thinking too hard! "Keh."

Kagome pushed by him with a smile. "Stop wasting time." Looking into his eyes, she saw hesitation and a little fear. "Don't worry, she won't shoot you down." She pat his shoulder and entered the hut.

Upping his confidence a little more, he pushed the small door aside and stepped in. His eyes were instantly drawn to the girl curled up in the corner.

He hunched down next to her as he watched her sleep She looked so small as she hugged Shippo to her chest and he rolled his eyes. The kit was far too spoiled, but he guessed a demon could get that way with three women fussing over him. "Oi, Serena," he whispered as he gently nudged her shoulder. Inuyasha almost felt bad when he woke her, but that was instantly thrown out the window when Serena's blue eyes opened. "Inuyasha?"

A grin crossed his features as he heard her sleepy mewl caresses his ears. "Hey," he whispered, suddenly a little unsure. "I need to talk to you."

Serena nodded and disentangled herself from her blankets, setting Shippo by Kagome. The little kit immediately clung to the new source of warmth, making her smile. She stumbled a little as her sleep clogged brain tried to wake up and blushed as Inuyasha caught her. "Thanks."

The hanyou nodded, picking her up bridal style as he made a bee-line for the Goshinboku.

They sped past trees as he made his way, Serena enjoying the wind that rushed through her hair. Inuyasha suddenly leapt upward, landing gracefully on his favorite branch in the Goshinboku, setting her in his lap.

Serena and Inuyasha sat in silence for a few moments, and as more time passed, the more nervous Serena became. Twiddling her thumbs only alleviated so much stress. "So," she whispered, shifting nervously, "what did you want to tell me?"

Inuyasha blinked as he came back to himself. "Well, uh…" He mentally smacked himself. 'Oh come on, just tell her!' It sounded so easy, but he was having so much trouble.

She heard him softly growl and turned around in his lap, gazing into his amber eyes. "Inuyasha?"

His slightly angry growls at himself stopped when he registered her voice. It was timid, and as he listened, it tapered off into a sad whine. "I'm sorry, I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at myself."

"Why?" she asked as she cocked her head to the side in confusion.

He sighed as he mentally prepared himself. "Because I'm letting my pride get in the way of what I really feel." Inuyasha became nervous when he heard her sharp intake of breath, and he prattled on. "I have these feelings," he explained as he started stroking her hair, becoming a little more confident when she relaxed. "I like it when I see you happy and don't like it when I see you sad."

Serena blinked in shock. This was sounding an awful lot like a declaration of feelings… "Inuyasha? You're rambling." She smiled when his cheeks started turning a gentle shade of red. "Aw, you look so cute when you blush," she whispered without thinking, giving him a gentle kiss to his nose, giggling.

When her eyes locked with his, her laughter stopped. As she gazed into his eyes, she could have sown they were shining…with love? She'd seen the look from her parents before, and even her friends, but this was Inuyasha!

"Serena," he murmured, stopping her thought process. In the next instant, his lips were on hers.

Inuyasha was getting a little anxious when she stiffened up, so he growled deep in his throat in an attempt to calm her down. Relief flooded him when not only did she relax, but she started responding.

The kisses were light and feathery, which surprised Serena. She always thought Inuyasha would be rougher, but she decided this was just a side to him no one knew about.

Pulling away an eternity later, Inuyasha gazed into her eyes before embracing her in a crushing yet gentle hug, and inhaling their mingling scents brought unexpected tears to his eyes.

Moisture that started dripping onto her shoulders worried Serena. What was wrong? "Inuyasha? Are you ok?" He thwarted her every attempt to pull away and look at him. Finally giving up, she buried herself in his arms, taking a deep breath and slightly calming at his forest musk scent.

"I just…never thought I'd ever have feelings like this for anyone," he admitted softly, voice slightly muffled by her hair.

This time Inuyasha allowed Serena to pull away from him and look him in the eye. "But what about Kikyo?" She knew it was a painful question to ask and wanted to kick herself for it, but he needed to get past these feelings if he was ever going to truly move on.

His head shook slowly as he gathered his thoughts, trying to put what he felt for the dead priestess into words. "The love I had for her isn't what I feel for you. I loved her because she was the first to accept me, and now I know she really didn't even do _that_. Kikyo used me, but I was too blinded by the fact that someone was willing to be with a filthy half-breed like me that I mistook my feelings of relief as love."

"Don't ever call yourself that, Inuyasha!" She slapped his chest angrily at his look of surprise. "You're _not_ a filthy half-breed, you're Inuyasha! And besides, if _you're_ a filthy half-breed, then _I _am too!"

"But you aren't!" He took her in his arms and leapt to the forest floor, needing the room to properly pace. "You're nice and kind; I don't deserve someone like that, someone like you!"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing! "Yes you do! Everyone deserves someone, Inuyasha, even us dirty half-breeds," she said gently, taking his face in her hands. "You're good enough for your friends, and you're good enough for me. Hopefully you fin yourself good enough for the world, because I do."

Inuyasha sighed in contentment as he let his eyes close. Maybe she was right; maybe he did deserve someone like her. Maybe he could really be happy, maybe he _could_ live happily with her. "You're willing to accept me for me, even after everything I've done?"

Serena knew he was referring to all the times he spoke without thinking, all the unintentional insults, and wanted to laugh. Sighing, she tweaked one of his ears. "Yes Inuyasha. You don't know how to interact all that well with people, but I know you have a good heart."

His breath hitched as she placed her hand over his heart, making it skip, a red flush spreading on his cheeks again. How did he get to be so lucky, to have her love him so much? A clawed hand rested over hers, and he looked into her eyes in slight wonder. "What is this feeling? Is this what love _really_ feels like?"

A dazzling smile lit her face. "Yeah, it's nice isn't it?" She leaned forward again, kissing the underside of his jaw.

"Yeah, it is."

----------

…wow, I can't believe it's done!

Anyway, on with my announcement! If you guys want a sequel, I will gladly write one. It will most likely include the destruction of Naraku, the completing of the Shikon, maybe some fluff with Kouga and Kagome, more fluff with our fave hanyou and Serena, and something with Kikyo that will be bashing-like. Sorry Kikyo fans, but I really don't like her.

So if I get enough feedback, I'll do it and try to post some other stories as well, and finish my Yu Yu Hakusho crossover.

Thanks once again, and see you all in the next story!

-MoonFace01


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